Federer aims for elusive French title

With the English summer about to begin in earnest with a Test series against Bangladesh, it's sometimes easy to forget that there are several other world-class sporting events happening at this time of year.

One of them begins on Monday, when the world's tennis stars head to Paris for the French Open, the second grand slam event of the byear and traditionally one of the best betting events in the entire calendar.

The world No. 1 Roger Federer heads the betting for the men's event, ahead of the in-form Spanish teenage sensation Rafael Nadal and last year's runner-up Guillermo Coria from Argentina, while the former champion Justine Henin-Hardenne is favourite to win a women's event that has already been hit by injuries.

From a betting point of view, one of the great things about the French Open is that it comes at the end of a relatively long warm-up season on the same clay surface, giving punters plenty of statistical help to inform their choices. Following winners from warm-up events has yielded success in previous years, with all but two of the past ten French Open men's singles champions having reached at least the final of one of the major clay-court events in the preceding month. On that basis, the leading contenders for this year's competition are Federer, Nadal, Coria, the holder Gaston Gaudio, Juan-Carlos Ferrero, David Nalbandian and Richard Gasquet.

Though the French Open is the only grand slam event that Federer has not won, it's no surprise that he is the 9/4 (3.25) favourite given that he's won 41 of his 43 matches this year, including the Masters Series in Hamburg just a week ago. A word of caution, though. Last year Federer also won in Hamburg, only to lose in the third round in Paris to Gustavo Kuerten. The draw, as ever, is the big key here, and Federer looks to have been dealt a tough hand, with several clay-court specialists likely to be blocking his path to the final, and the problem is whether he'll have enough stamina and patience to get through possibly four tough matches on what's the most gruelling surface of them all.

Nadal may say his main ambition is to win on the grass at Wimbledon, but his incredible victories in Monte Carlo and Rome have shown the world that he, arguably above Federer, is the man to beat, and he's been installed at 5/2 (3.50). It's asking a lot, though. Not since Mats Wilander won the title in 1982 has any man walked through the gates at Roland Garros for the first time and come away with the trophy. There's no doubt that Nadal has the talent, but the pressure of a grand slam event, back-to-back tight matches and his youth - he's still only 18 - are all potentially negative factors.

The Argentine Challenge
Coria, the runner-up to his fellow Argentine Gaudio last year, looks to be back to his best after a succession of injury problems and, with a good draw, he will take some beating: he's also at 5/2 (3.50). The experience of last year, when he collapsed under the pressure in the final, will surely help him this time. Gaudio, who won the title in Estoril and has also won twice on clay in 2005, is a surprisingly big 20/1 (21.00), while Ferrero, the French Open champion in 2003 and runner-up in Barcelona this year, is another on the way back to top form after injury and is 12/1 (13.00).

Nalbandian, one of the game's biggest talents, won in Munich and is 40/1 (41.00), while no-one will want to play the 16/1 (17.00) chance Gasquet, the 18-year-old from France who stunned Federer in Monte Carlo and then lost out to him in the final in Hamburg. The Australian Open champion Marat Safin has not enjoyed a great run of form since his Melbourne triumph in January, but he is a classy player and should not be overlooked at 12/1 (13.00).

One other thing to bear in mind in Paris is that the courts traditionally play a touch faster than the other clay-court events, a fact borne out by the run of Tim Henman, who prefers fast courts, to the semi-finals last year. Henman is 100/1 (101.00) this time round.