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FINAL (-6 units):

Albert Costa ESP (20) vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP (11)
- Ferrero's demolition of Safin in the semi final was impressive, but it was clear the Russian had his head elsewhere. The 'Mosquito' picked up his serve in that match and if he can do the same today in winning those free points, he'll be hard to toss. He faces a different style of opponent in the final but it's fair to say you won't see too many net approaches by these two clay-court specialists. Costa, five years his senior, did win a three-setter against Ferrero on clay in Germany last month, and should settle down in a patient style of play, but when the match is there to be won, Costa looks most vulnerable. Ferrero in four or five sets.

Ferrero in four sets (3 units at 3.75 - Sportodds; Blue Square; Bet365) -3

Ferrero in five sets (3 units at 7.00 - Bet365) -3

SEMI FINAL PLAY (-4 units): 

Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP (11) vs. Marat Safin RUS (2)

- The Spaniard has played some great tennis to reach his third successive semi final at Roland Garros, but this won't be easy. Marat Safin is the most consistent performer in Grand Slams in recent times and judging by his comments regarding Ferrero yesterday - "I always play well against him. I like his game. I feel comfortable against him" - his coming into this brimming with confidence. If he can stay patient, he looks a big chance at the odds-against.

Safin (4 units at 2.20 - William Hill) -4

Albert Costa ESP (20) vs. Alex Corretja 1.83 ESP (18)

- Good luck trying to pick this with any confidence. Corretja has had the easier run through the quarters, but don't read much into the way Costa finished off Canas - it was more the case of the exhausted Argentinean hitting the wall. Costa said yesterday, "Maybe I'm mentally stronger than before" - well I'm not so sure. Should the match go the distance, he has a terrible five-set record and having never been at this stage of a Grand Slam before, the edge has to be with his more experienced compatriot.

QUARTER FINALS - NO PLAYS

Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP (11) vs. Andre Agassi USA (4)

(2.20 Eurobet vs. 1.80 Global; Centrebet)

- Should be a classic encounter but can't pick the winner with any confidence. The Spaniard, going for his third successive semi final appearance at Roland Garros, has the clay court pedigree, but expect the 32 year-old Agassi come into this very well prepared. He'll target the Ferrero backhand and be ultra patient from the back of the court and you have to give Agassi has the mental and tactical edge, but will it be enough?

Sebastien Grosjean FRA (10) vs. Marat Safin RUS (2)

(2.30 Centrebet vs 1.65 Global)

- On paper and form, the Russian looks the goods, but strange things can happen at this end of a Grand Slam, and in front of the Parisian crowd, the Frenchman must be rated a chance today. Still not convinced of Safin's mental state at certain times, but having said that, if he can perform to the best of his ability he should advance.

Guillermo Canas ARG (15) vs. Albert Costa ESP (20)

(2.20 Centrebet vs. 1.75 Global)

- Very tough! It's fair to say that these two could be in for a lengthy battle today. Both classic clay courters could go at it for a very long time, but given their path through this week, the fitness edge might be with Costa should the match become a marathon.

Andrei Pavel ROM (22) vs. Alex Corretja ESP (18)

(3.10 Centrebet vs. 1.47 Sportodds)

- The Romanian is in uncharted waters by making the quarters of his 1st Grand Slam tourney. The edge must be with last year's runner-up Corretja, but the Spaniard will have to careful not to take this one too easily.

MONDAY 4TH ROUND PLAYS (-8 units):

Gaston Gaudio ARG (31) vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP (11)

- With a 4-1 head-to-head advantage, the Argentinean will give himself a big chance to join his compatriot Canas in the quarter finals today. Whether the Spaniard's ankle will be a problem or not, Gaudio has been playing the better tennis this year and will have the fitness edge should the match go the distance.

Gaudio (4 units at 2.50 - Eurobet)  -4

Xavier Malisse BEL vs. Sebastien Grosjean FRA (10)

- The Frenchman continues to play through a groin injury that will surely be tested by the confident Belgian. Malisse has impressed in his last two matches and if he can hold it together mentally, must be rated a huge chance to get past Grosjean and the raucous centre court crowd.

Malisse (4 units at 2.75 - William Hill)  -4

Other Matches (Selections in Bold):

Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA vs. Andre Agassi 1.10 USA (4)

- The French wild card won the junior tournament here in '98, but not even the parochial Parisian crowd will help him get past a workman like performance from Agassi.

Arnaud Di Pasquale FRA vs. Marat Safin 1.23 RUS (2)

- The comeback King's run will surely come to an end today. The Frenchman will struggle to match the power back court game of the Russian who really looked to hit some form towards the end of his match against Nalbandian.

SUNDAY 4TH ROUND PLAYS (+8.75 units):

Lleyton Hewitt AUS (1) vs. Guillermo Canas ARG (15)

- If the Argentinean can recover from his four-hour marathon against Moya on Friday, he'll be right in this. It was at the same stage of the tournament last year when Canas found himself two sets to love up, only to come back the next day and blow the advantage. While both have improved their game immeasurably since, the Aussie will have to lift his game from what he has produced so far this week.

Canas (5 units at 2.75 - Victor Chandler) +8.75

Other Matches (Selections in Bold):

Albert Costa 2.75 ESP (20) vs. Gustavo Kuerten BRA (7)

- It's hard to part with the hard earned against a guy that has won and 17 consecutive matches at Roland Garros and the last six encounters between these two. But as they say, records are made to be broken, and on current form and anticipated fitness requirements, this looks to be the Spaniards best chance.

Tommy Haas GER (3) vs. Andrei Pavel 3.10 ROM (22)

- The German came out victorious in a tight match between the two in Munich a month ago, but Pavel has impressed in his last two and will surely test Haas' troublesome shoulder.

Alex Corretja 1.50 ESP (18) vs. Mariano Zabaleta ARG

- Corretja can consider himself lucky to be alive at Roland Garros thanks to Arnaud Clement missing one of the easiest volley's you are going to see on one of his four match points in the last match. He looks to be finding some touch after starting the year slowly, but there's no value in this price.

SATURDAY 3RD ROUND PLAYS (-1.72 units):

David Nalbandian ARG (29) vs. Marat Safin RUS (2)

- The talented Argentinean youngster certainly has what it takes to get past the Russian today. Safin still looked to be troubled by a back injury in his five-set win over Olivier Rochus and will face another stern test today.

Nalbandian (4 units at 2.88 - SportingOdds) -4

MULTI:

Hicham Arazi MAR vs. Gaston Gaudio 1.44 ARG (31)

- The gutsy Moroccan has turned his poor run of form around nicely at Roland Garros, not dropping a set to date, but this will be much tougher. Gaudio, fresh from two tournament wins in April, is one of the best up and comers going around and looks very hard to beat.

Xavier Malisse 1.57 BEL vs. Albert Portas ESP

- The Spaniard has turned around his dreadful form of the past few months with wins over Ilie and Mamiit. This will be much tougher against one of the most improved players on the circuit. Malisse has shown a better mental attitude in recent times as evidenced by a solid win over Henman on Thursday.

(4 units at 2.26 - William Hill) +2.28

Other Matches (Selections in Bold):

Guillermo Coria ARG vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero 1.36 ESP (11)

- Nicolas Coutelot certainly wasn't convinced of the extent of Ferrero's 'ankle injury' and either am I. From being carted off in an ambulance, to running full speed across the court for five sets in the space of 24 hours was a bit hard to fathom. One to avoid for mine.

Jiri Novak 1.25 CZE (14) vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA

- The Czech is in arguably the best form of his career and will give the wild card a much tougher test.

Tommy Robredo ESP (25) vs. Andre Agassi 1.22 USA (4)

- Robredo, Spain's brightest prospects has been in solid touch over the last few weeks, but Agassi looks sharp this week and will be very hard to toss.

Vincent Spadea USA vs. Sebastien Grosjean 1.20 FRA (10)

- The American has survived two five-set matches to reach the third round, but looks to be significantly outclassed by his good friend and home town favourite today.

Arnaud Di Pasquale 1.44 FRA vs. Paradorn Srichaphan THA

- It's been a stunning return from injury for the Frenchman and he'll be right in this given the Thai players lack of experience on the dirt.

FRIDAY 3RD ROUND PLAYS (-0.14 units):

Lleyton Hewitt AUS (1) vs. Sjeng Schalken NED (30)

- The Aussie looks worth opposing today after a couple of less than convincing wins. He made hard work of Sa in the 1st round and looked gone for all money when a set and 0-5 down against Stoliarov. Schalken, no mug on the dirt and with conditions likely to suit, is yet to drop a set this week and looks a genuine chance for an upset in the first match on Court Chatrier.

Schalken (2 units at 4.50 - SportingOdds) -2

Fernando Gonzalez CHI vs. Gustavo Kuerten BRA (7)

- The Chilean Gonzalez, already a tournament winner on the dirt this year, is playing with great confidence and must be rated a huge chance against the out of sorts defending champion. It's fair to say he was fortunate to get past Sanguinetti, but thing's don't look like getting any easier today in the warmer and faster conditions.

Gonzalez (3 units at 3.00 - Bet365) -3

MULTI:

Andrea Gaudenzi ITA vs. Albert Costa 1.36 ESP (20)

- Edge in class.

Arnaud Clement FRA vs. Alex Corretja 1.33 ESP (18)

- The Frenchman surprised with the ease of his win over Johansson, but he comes up against a genuine clay courter today.

(6 units at 1.81 - Bet365) +4.86

Other Matches (Selections in Bold):

Carlos Moya 1.50 ESP (17) vs. Guillermo Canas ARG (15)

- The Spaniard can think himself a little lucky to get past a resurgent Philippoussis in three sets on Wednesday, while Canas only dropped three games after losing the first set to Calatrava. Hard to take at this price.

Tommy Haas GER (3) vs. Jarkko Nieminen 3.15 FIN

- Tough call, but with lingering injury concerns over the German, the Finn is slightly over the odds for mine.

Andrei Pavel 1.65 ROM (22) vs. Albert Montanes ESP

- Pavel looked very sharp in his win over Kratochvil in the last round and should have too much experience for the gutsy Spaniard.

Fernando Vicente ESP vs. Mariano Zabaleta 1.73 ARG

- A tough match-up, but Zabaleta does hold a 4-1 advantage in the head-to-head record.

THURSDAY 2ND ROUND PLAYS (-13 units):

Albert Portas ESP vs. Cecil Mamiit USA

- Mamiit has stepped up from Challenger Tour level for a nice win over Mirnyi in the 1st Round while Portas got past an out of sorts Ilie to turn around a terrible 0-6 run. While the Spaniard has gone down to some very well credentialed clay courters in recent times, Mamiit looks capable of providing a stern test today.

Mamiit (3 units at 2.62 - William Hill) -3

Wayne Arthurs AUS vs. Arnaud Di Pasquale FRA

- It's not going to be easy for the Aussie to back-up after such a big win over Roddick, but he looks comfortable on the surface and will only be advantaged by the forecast clearing and faster conditions today. The Frenchman will have the crowd support, but can he deal with the Arthurs serve?

Arthurs (5 units at 1.82 - Centrebet) -5

MULTI:

Irakli Labadze GEO vs. Gaston Gaudio 1.22 ARG (31)

- The draw has opened up nicely for the Argentinean and with a comfortable win under his belt, will be very hard to beat here. Labadze will surely fell the effects of his marathon 4.5 hour match with Boutter.

Adrian Voinea 1.42 ROM vs. Vincent Spadea USA

- Spadea had a five-set win over veteran Frenchman Pioline int he 1st round, while Voinea had a tight win over the fancied Chela. Spadea has been performing well at Challenger level, but the gutsy Romanian looks to have a significant edge here.

Paradorn Srichaphan THA vs. Thomas Enqvist 1.25 SWE (19)

- The Swede had a nice comeback after finding himself two sets down against Massa, but this will be easier.

(5 units at 2.17) -5

Other Matches (Selections in Bold):

Hicham Arazi MAR vs. Mariano Puerta 2.40 ARG

- Arazi found conditions to his liking with a stunning upset of Federer in the 1st round. He should have the edge here, but the gritty Moroccan does have ongoing injury problems so I'll be in no rush to take this price.

Rainer Schuettler GER (24) vs. Guillermo Coria 1.72 ARG

- You can't read too much into his win over Sargsian, but Coria must be favoured to win this. The German has had some great results this year but will struggle against the Argentinean youngster.

Nicolas Coutelot 8.00 FRA vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP (11)

- This won't be easy for the Spaniard - even if he does manage to hit the court. An ankle injury sustained in training might be enough to keep him out. Watch for 'ball served' books and get some on.

Jiri Novak 1.13 CZE (14) vs. Jens Knippschild GER

- Clear edge in class, but slight injury concern for the Czech with last week's withdrawal from St Polten.

Paul-Henri Mathieu 2.75 FRA vs. Fabrice Santoro FRA (23)

- Very tough. Santoro had not tasted victory since March prior to his 1st round win over Norman. The wild card Mathieu finished strongly over Ferreira and must be rated a chance here.

Tommy Robredo 1.08 ESP (25) vs. Oleg Ogorodov UZB

- Ogorodov gave it his all to get past Hipfl in five, but not this time.

David Sanchez 8.00 ESP vs. Andre Agassi USA (4)

- The Spaniard impressed with a straight sets win over Acasuso in the opening round and looks a point or two over the odds for mine.

Tim Henman 1.52 GBR (6) vs. Xavier Malisse BEL

- The Brit is looking more comfortable on the dirt in recent times and looks to be travelling a little better than the fragile Belgian.

James Blake USA vs. Sebastien Grosjean 1.38 FRA (10)

- The up and comer is yet to prove himself on the dirt and while not in the greatest form, the Frenchman will be very hard to beat in front of a parochial crowd on Court Chatrier. 

David Nalbandian 1.40 ARG (29) vs. Flavio Saretta BRA

- The Brazilian has some decent form behind him, so this won't be as easy for the young Argentinean as one might expect.

Olivier Rochus BEL vs. Marat Safin 1.16 RUS (2)

- Have to favour the Russian, but this does look a fraction skinny.

WEDNESDAY 2ND ROUND PLAYS (+4.05 units):

Thomas Johansson SWE (9) vs. Arnaud Clement FRA

- Clement had no trouble with the lowly ranked French wild card in the 1st round, but is a huge chance to continue his trend of never getting past the 2nd round at Roland Garros. Don't forget Johansson is one of the most improved players of the last year and Clement always plays his best tennis off the dirt.

Johansson (8 units at 1.95 - Centrebet) -8

Mariano Zabaleta ARG vs. Yevgeny Kafelnikov RUS (5)

- The out of form Russian looked to be heading for a most embarrassing defeat to the German qualifier Behrend before quickly taking control in the final set yesterday. This will be much tougher against an Argentinean that has defeated him at Roland Garros before.

Zabaleta (6 units at 2.10 - William Hill) +6.6

MULTI:

Carlos Moya 1.20 ESP (17) vs. Mark Philippoussis AUS

- Pou made a nice comeback against the French qualifier in the 1st round. He does have a 3-0 head-to-head record over the Spaniard, but all have been on the hardcourt - this will be very different.

Nikolay Davydenko RUS vs. Albert Costa 1.17 ESP (20)

- You would expect the Spaniard to cruise through this.

Amir Hadad ISR vs. Jarkko Nieminen 1.22 FIN

- As predicted, the Finn cleaned up last weeks St Polten winner in the 1st round and shouldn't have any problems here against the Israeli qualifier.

Todd Martin USA vs. Alex Corretja 1.22 ESP (18)

- The old man was very fortunate to get past our Argentinean qualifier on Monday, mainly thanks to a very timely rain delay. The Spaniard was very impressive in the 1st round and shouldn't have any problems today.

(5 units at 2.09) +5.45

Other Matches (Selections in Bold):

Lleyton Hewitt 1.08 AUS (1) vs. Andrei Stoliarov RUS

- The Aussie won't have things all his own way and did look to be doing it a little tough in his opening encounter.

Sebastien De Chaunac FRA vs. Sjeng Schalken 1.22 NED (30)

- The French wild card will find this much tougher than the ageing Chang.

Alex Calatrava ESP vs. Guillermo Canas 1.17 ARG (15)

- Canas did look to get better as his match against Kucera went on and should be good for another win today.

Andrea Gaudenzi 1.45 ITA vs. Jack Brasington USA

- The Yank continued his fine run through qualifying with a straight sets win over Luzzi. This will be much tougher with experience likely to get the Italian veteran through. Too skinny for mine however.

Fernando Meligeni 2.50 BRA vs. Fernando Gonzalez CHI

- As predicted, the Brazilian did the job for us against Escude and he looks over the odds to advance to the 3rd round in Paris. 

Davide Sanguinetti ITA vs. Gustavo Kuerten 1.08 BRA (7)

- It was only the 1st round, but Guga looked better and better as his match against Heuberger went on. If he can stay fit, looks the deserving favourite for what would be a remarkable successful title defence.

Tommy Haas GER (3) vs. Feliciano Lopez 5.10 ESP ?

- Lopez came through for us in five sets and may well be a threat in this one if the heavy conditions continue. I certainly won't be touching the German with the cold weather not likely to be doing great things for that troublesome shoulder.

Andrei Pavel ROM (22) vs. Michel Kratochvil 2.63 SUI

- Apart from a 2nd set lapse, Kratochvil did impress in his opening encounter against Hrbaty and looks to be up to his eyeballs in this one.

Albert Montanes ESP vs. Younes El Aynaoui 1.40 MAR (16)

- The Moroccan did it the hard way against Gambill in the 1st round, but he should have few such problems today. Montanes has produced some decent results in recent times, but lacks the experience and class to win this one.

Fernando Vicente ESP vs. Alberto Martin 1.70 ESP ?

- As predicted, Vicente backed up from last week's final with a win over Ljubicic, albeit in five sets. He faces a touger challenge here, facing a 3-6 H-H record (all on clay), and a player who looks to be running into some nice form.

TUESDAY 1ST ROUND PLAYS (-10 units):

Jiri Novak CZE (14) vs. Mikhail Youzhny RUS

- A very dangerous match for the Czech who withdrew from last week's St Polten tourney with a right wrist injury. He has been in great form this year dating back to his semi at the Aus Open, but the young Russian has been in some form of his own in the last month or two, with three set losses to Agassi, El Aynaoui and Moya a positive sign.

Youzhny (2 units at 3.25 - SportingOdds) -2

Jens Knippschild GER vs. Hyung-Taik Lee KOR

- The German was first-up for '02 in qualifying and did have three wins, but this will be much tougher. Lee has shown glimpses of solid form this year and should have too much in his first match at Roland Garros.

Lee (6 units at 2.00 - Centrebet) -6

David Sanchez ESP vs. Jose Acasuso ARG

- Acasuso played some solid tennis in the 'Mickey Mouse' event in Dusseldorf last week but expect this to be a lot different. Sanchez will have pleasant memories of his defeat of Moya here last year and has been quite impressive in recent times. Only question mark surrounds the 'stomach problem' that forced him to retire against Rochus last week, so I'll take the evens at Hills with the incomplete/void rule.

Sanchez  (4 units at 2.00 - William Hill) +4

Michael Russell USA vs. Arnaud Di Pasquale FRA

- The wild card Frenchman won a clay Challenger event in Slovenia earlier this month with a win over Ballcells in the final. It must be remembered that Russell gave Kuerten a five set scare in the round of 16 here last year, so I'm thinking he'll be right in this.

Russell (4 units at 2.25 - Bet365) -4

MULTI:

Oleg Ogorodov UZB vs. Markus Hipfl 1.36 AUT

- Aging qualifier should find Hipfl an insurmountable challenge.

Sargis Sargsian ARM vs. Guillermo Coria 1.20 ARG

- The young Argentinean has taken some time to find his feet since returning to the tour, but this should be a formality. Sargsian, returning from hip surgery in April, has had an unfortunate lead-up and was awful in his 1st round loss to Melzer in St Polten last week.

Raemon Sluiter 1.50 NED vs. Paradorn Srichaphan THA

- The Dutchman won a clay Challenger in Tunisia last month and will have too much for the Thai who looks lost on the dirt.

Alexander Popp GER vs. Xavier Malisse 1.33 BEL

- The German looks to have had an easy run through qualifying and on recent form it's easy to see him out in the 1st round for a third successive year.

Cecil Mamiit USA vs. Max Mirnyi 1.28 BLR (26)

- Mamiit has troubled Mirnyi in the past on the hardcourt but this should be a different story. Wins over Sampras, Moya, Zabaleta, and Boutter in Hamburg will have the Belarusian brimming with confidence for this.

(2 units at 4.16)  -2

Other Matches (Selections in Bold):

Roger Federer 1.14 SUI (8) vs. Hicham Arazi MAR

- Expect a big fortnight from Roger.

Kristian Pless DEN vs. Mariano Puerta 1.61 ARG

- The Argentinean has had a nice run through qualifying and should have too much experience for the Dane.

Irakli Labadze GEO vs. Julien Boutter 1.36 FRA

- The 20 year-old Labadze is playing his first match at Roland Garros and did stretch last weeks eventual St Polten winner Lapentti, but Boutter has had some good wins over quality players recently.

Juan Balcells ESP vs. Gaston Gaudio 1.14 ARG (31)

- Would have liked to see the Argentinean play another lead up tourney, but with successive wins in Spain in April looks a class above the Spaniard.

Rainer Schuettler 1.45 GER (24) vs. Stefano Galvani ITA

- The German has never passed the 1st round here in three attempts, but is arguably in the best form of his career this year. Galvani, a lucky loser, will find this very tough.

Nicolas Coutelot 2.63 FRA vs. Stefan Koubek AUT

- Tough match up. The clay specialist Frenchman had a couple of wins here last year. Koubek will get plenty of balls back but looks under the odds for mine.

Jean-Rene Lisnard FRA vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero 1.06 ESP (11)

- Nice warm-up against the French wild card.

Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA vs. Wayne Ferreira 1.45 RSA

- The young Frenchman can fight, but might lack the experience to get past the veteran South African.

Magnus Norman SWE vs. Fabrice Santoro 1.70 FRA (23)

- Tough one. Norman leads the head-to-head 4-1, inc. a win here in the R64 of '00. The Swede is taking time to find some form since returning, while Santoro has not won a match since Indian Wells in March.

Tommy Robredo 1.10 ESP (25) vs. Harel Levy ISR

- Reached the 4th round here last year, but the 1/10 is way too short for me.

Eric Prodon FRA vs. Andre Agassi 1.01 USA (4)

Tim Henman 1.35 GBR (6) vs. Galo Blanco ESP

- The Brit has a tough 1st rnd match here against a form quarter finalist. May go the distance.

Andrew Ilie AUS vs. Albert Portas 1.48 ESP

- An oddsmakers nightmare! Portas has not won a match since March, while Ilie is 0-7 on the ATP Tour for year.

Juan Ignacio Chela 1.28 ARG (21) vs. Adrian Voinea ROM

- Voinea can be dangerous and did beat Henman a couple of weeks ago.

Vincent Spadea USA vs. Cedric Pioline 1.36 FRA

- Spadea did reach the final of a clay challenger last month, but the old man will be hard to knock over today.

James Blake 1.22 USA vs. Lars Burgsmuller GER

- The German really looks to have been struggling in the last few months.

Francisco Clavet 3.75 ESP vs. Sebastien Grosjean FRA (10)

- The Veteran must be rated some chance of defeating last year's semi finalist. He has not been overly impressive in recent times, but the anticipated heavy conditions on Court Chatrier may be in his favour.

Andy Roddick 1.17 USA (13) vs. Wayne Arthurs AUS

- The Yank was forced to withdraw from Dusseldorf last week citing knee tendonitis and a wrist problem. With that in mind, this looks like one to avoid.

Edgardo Massa ARG vs. Thomas Enqvist 1.33 SWE (19)

- Massa impressed with three easy wins to qualify for his first French Open, but the Swede had a nice tune-up last week and will be right for this.

David Nalbandian ARG (29) vs. Agustin Calleri 2.10 ARG

- Very tough to pick. Nalbandian has been a little disappointing in the last few weeks in will be playing his first match at Roland Garros, while Calleri has been in solid touch and has a little more experience in the Grand Slam environment.

Flavio Saretta 1.28 BRA vs. Oliver Marach AUT

- Marach made it through to the main draw for the first time with three three set qualifier wins. Saretta is also in his 1st start here, but as long as his blisters don't cause any problems, he has the form to win this comfortably.

Olivier Rochus 1.53 BEL vs. Attila Savolt HUN

- Rochus had a few confidence building wins at St Polten last week while Savolt, forced to retire with a sinus infection at the same tourney, hasn't overly impressed recnetly.

Michael Llodra FRA vs. Marat Safin 1.14 RUS (2)

- Should win comfortably, but will the back hold up?

MONDAY 1ST ROUND PLAYS (+20.1 units):

Feliciano Lopez ESP vs. Didac Perez ESP

- Perez defeated Lopez in the third round of the qualifying competition here 6/7 6/4 7/5 with Lopez a lucky loser replacing Mantilla. Must be rated a huge chance of reversing the result in the five-setter.

Lopez (6 units at 1.80 - Sportodds)  +4.8

Nicolas Escude FRA (27) vs. Fernando Meligeni BRA

- Meligeni is a former semi-finalist at Roland Garros. He has not been in the greatest form - respectable losses to Sanchez and Lapentti - but must be rated a huge chance here. Escude has never played his best at the French, going out in the first round in his past two attempts and did not look all that convincing last week in Dusseldorf.

Meligeni (4 units at 2.10 - William Hill) +4.4

Todd Martin USA vs. Martin Vassallo Arguello ARG

- The young Argentinean qualifier won the Challenger event in Rome recently and must be rated a huge chance to get past the veteran Yank.

Vassallo Arguello (2 units at 4.00 - William Hill) -2

Ivan Ljubicic CRO (32) vs. Fernando Vicente ESP

- Last week's St Polten finalist must be favoured to defeat Ljubicic, who apart from a win against Ferrero in Rome, has been out of sorts over the last few months.

Vicente (4 units at 1.85 - Centrebet) +3.4

Alex Calatrava ESP vs. Nicolas Kiefer GER

- The German leads the head-to-head 3-0, but has been in a shocking form slump and has never been past the second round in five appearances at Roland Garros. Calatrava reached a semi in a challenger last start and should be too strong over the five sets today.

Calatrava (4 units at 2.00 - Sportodds) +4

MULTI:

Richard Gasquet FRA vs. Albert Costa 1.16 ESP (20)

- Not this time for the 15-year old.

Fernando Gonzalez 1.14 CHI vs. Scott Draper AUS

- The Aussie can fight, but this will be very tough.

Andrei Pavel 1.08 ROM (22) vs. Martin Lee GBR

- Not here for the Brit.

Jan-Michael Gambill USA vs. Younes El Aynaoui 1.20 MAR (16)

- The in-form Moroccan to have too much on the dirt.

Jan Vacek CZE vs. Mariano Zabaleta 1.22 ARG

- The Czech is struggling to win a game at the moment.

(5 units at 2.10) +5.5

Other Matches (Selections in Bold): 

Lleyton Hewitt 1.05 AUS (1) vs. Andre Sa BRA

- Uncertainty over a side strain injury that came up in Hamburg make the 20's on untouchable.

Andrei Stoliarov 2.75 RUS vs. Jonas Bjorkman SWE

- The 7/4 about the Russian does look tempting. He has been struggling at Challenger Tour level, but did have a few wins in the qualies here before getting into the main draw as a lucky loser. Bjorkman has gone out in the 1st round four years in a row here and has not won a match on the dirt all year.

Pete Sampras USA (12) vs. Andrea Gaudenzi 2.62 ITA

- The Yank can't play on the dirt but can't be totally written off in this one.

Sebastien De Chaunac FRA vs. Michael Chang 1.36 USA

- Past French Winner Chang is not getting any younger, but he might be good for a win here up against the French wild card.

Ivan Miranda PER vs. Sjeng Schalken 1.28 NED (30)

- Schalken hasn't been in the greatest form in recent times, but should have enough for the Peruvian, who had an easy run through the qualifying tourney.

Carlos Moya 1.05 ESP (17) vs. Ramon Delgado PAR

- Ramon had his best Grand Slam result with a 4th round here in 1998, but Moya is primed for this one.

Mark Philippoussis 1.22 AUS vs. Julien Varlet FRA

- The Frenchman had three good matches in qualifying inc. a win over Galvani, but the Aussie will have too much power. 

Karol Kucera SVK vs. Guillermo Canas 1.22 ARG (15)

- Canas reached the 4th round here last year and will need to be right on his game. Kucera does have a questionable preparation.

Federico Luzzi ITA vs. Jack Brasington 2.37 USA

- The Yank cruised through qualifying without dropping a set in his first appearance at Roland Garros and does look a touch over the odds against the young Italian.

Giorgio Galimberti ITA vs. Nikolay Davydenko 1.48 RUS

- The young Russian should have too much, but Galimberti has three matches under his belt this week and has had some handy results on the dirt.

Julian Knowle AUT vs. Davide Sanguinetti 1.53 ITA

- Very tough match to pick, slight lean towards the Italian.

Ivo Heuberger SUI vs. Gustavo Kuerten 1.04 BRA (7)

- Form is a concern, but hard to go against three-time champ here.

Tommy Haas 1.14 GER (3) vs. Michal Tabara CZE

- Should be a formality but the shoulder injury remains a concern for the German. One to oppose later in the week.

Christophe Rochus 1.52 BEL vs. Amir Hadad ISR

- Someone has to win this, but who? Very tough!

Jarkko Nieminen 2.37 FIN vs. Nicolas Lapentti ECU (28)

- One might expect somewhat of a letdown for Lapentti after last week's win at St Polten. The young Fin is yet to win a Grand Slam match, but must be rated a big chance today. 

Michel Kratochvil SUI vs. Dominik Hrbaty 1.72 SVK

- Kratochvil is not in the greatest form at the moment and will find it very tough up against a past French Open semi-finalist in Hrbaty.

Albert Montanes ESP vs. Anthony Dupuis 2.70 FRA

- The Frenchman does look overs the odds against the inconsistent Spaniard.

Thomas Johansson SWE (9) vs. Franco Squillari 2.10 ARG

- Very Tough. The Argentinean will need to hit some form quickly to be assured of getting past the Aussie Open champ today.

Julien Benneteau 5.50 FRA vs. Arnaud Clement FRA

- Clement plays his best tennis on the hardcourt as evidenced by the fact that he has never been past the second round here in Paris. The wildcard for a boilover.

Bohdan Ulihrach CZE vs. Alex Corretja 1.38 ESP (18)

- Not the easiest 1st round match for the Spaniard. Ulihrach has never been defeated in the first round in seven appearances at Roland Garros.

Robby Ginepri USA vs. Alberto Martin 1.22 ESP

- Too much for the qualifier.

Tomas Behrend GER vs. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1.22 RUS (5)

- Not the easiest 1st round for the hopelessly out of form Russian.