Wide open Open

Perhaps, the one name that most have stricken from their short list is defending champion Albert Costa, who hasn't scored any probing results since his win in Paris one year ago.

The best one can do ahead of the second grand slam of the year is break down the favourites into the up-and-coming talent versus the veterans.

Anyone from Argentina. On Sunday, Guillermo Coria won the Hamburg Masters in style against compatriot and friend Augustin Calleri. The latter also showed class in Hamburg, as did another Argentine Gaston Gaudio who has had promising results this spring.

A week earlier, Felix Mantilla became the first unseeded player to win the Rome Masters in the Open era, defeating one of the hottest players of 2003, Roger Federer.

What about 2002 Runner-up Juan Carlos Ferrero who won the Monte Carlo Masters and Valencia? After taking a two weeks break, the World number three will be the man to beat. One man has beaten Ferrero at his best, Marat Safin who crushed the Spaniard in the semis in Barcelona.

On the next day in the final, Safin fell exhausted to 1998 French Open winner Carlos Moya, who's shown flashes of his past form this year.

USUAL SUSPECTS

Safin's defeat of Ferrero tore up the form book. The Russian, plagued by shoulder and arm injuries, hasn't done anything so far this season, yet he proved that he can now be physically and mentally fresh coming to Paris.

It's also hard to ignore the top two players in the world, Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt.

Agassi scored his most memorable victory in Paris in 1999. At 33, can the Australian Open winner still prevail over seven matches played in the best of five sets on the most demanding surface? Despite his first round exit in Rome, his recent win in Houston proves that he's still ready to battle on clay.

Despite his charisma and indefatigable legs, Lleyton Hewitt however still appears to have problems adjusting to the specifics of clay at 22.The Australian struggled through two rounds in Hamburg before being knocked out in the third by Chile's Fernando Gonzalez. The writing may well be on the red clay.

Among the veterans who still have a few tricks up their sleeves, one must never rule out three time champion Gustavo Kuerten, still the best bet among the outsiders. Alex Corretja, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Magnus Norman also hope to leave their mark.