It’s that time of year again folks: the long, dreary grandslam event filled with Spaniards sliding around the red clay, chasing down every ball like their life depends on it and occasionally displaying some dazzling tennis.

The men’s draw:  Rafa’s victory inevitable

And this year, we are probably going to see an exciting men’s draw. After all somebody needs to lose to Nadal in the final. Unlike the last two years, Federer has had a very poor start to his season and seems in rather human form. This kind of slump will take some recovering from given that he has not experience such sustained failure over the last few years. Nadal is entering the tournament playing as well as he has ever on clay. It would be a foolish man who would bet against him even given a tricky match against Nalbandian and a potential semi-final against Djokovic.

But what will be interesting to see is who will be across the net from him during the finale. At this point, while I don’t rule Federer out, his draw isn’t improving the odds. He could potentially face Wawrinka or Gasquet in the quarters and Ferrer or Robredo in the semi-finals. These are tough clay court matches and given current form, I wouldn’t be surprised if Federer lost in the semis to say, Ferrer. As for Djokovic, he is playing well and should make it to the semis. I don’t think he has developed the clay court game to beat Nadal yet. Even given the form he is in, I expect on Nadal to beat him in four sets at the most.

The women’s draw will definitely be more interesting. Henin has absolutely dominated this tournament over the past few years and her absence opens up the tournament. Personally, I would love to see Sharapova win. But she doesn’t seem patient enough to play out the long rallies and she also doesn’t slide around as well on clay. Ivanovic is playing well and the nervousness of being on the big stage would’ve reduced by the time she reaches the clay courts of Paris. I would pick her to be a finalist. And I pick Kuznetzova to be her opponent. Sharapova v Kuznetzova will be an interesting semi-final. Both of them prefer the hard courts to clay but I think on a good day, Kuznetzova’s power will see her past Sharapova on clay. Final pick, Ana Ivanovic. A final word: the Williams sisters have shown time and again that they will pull surprises out of the bag and you discount them at your own peril.

Do you agree with our picks? Who do you think is going to reign on clay this season? Let us know.