Rafael Nadal:
After his loss to Stan Wawrinka, Rafa is set to be seeded outside of the top 4 for the first time since 2005, and although Roger Federer still says that Rafa is the man to beat, it is looking like the reign of Rafa is over. The king of clay has been hampered with injuries and coming in to the tournament has not looked nearly as sharp as his rivals. It's impossible to rule Rafa out when it comes to Roland Garros, but for him to win the tournament he needs to step up his game quite dramatically, and even the most die hard Nadal fans will agree that it is very unlikely to happen.
Roger Federer:
The only man other than Rafa to win the singles in the last 10 years is Roger Federer, and although the master is getting on a bit, he reminded everyone that he is still a contender after reaching the final in Rome. With men's professional tennis opening up to be more competitive and with the rise of young talent in the game, if one of the front-runners slip up then Roger could be in there to pounce. His age has taken a bit of the edge off of his game, but the Swiss maestro is still an undeniably great talent, and we think he'll reach the semi-final.
Kei Nishikori:
Constantly improving, and ranked 5th in the world, Kei Nishikori will feel he has to build on his US Open runners up place and start to seriously threaten the big boys of tennis, and there is no better time to strike than with Rafa and Roger not in their prime. He has seen off the likes of Andy Murray and David Ferrer in ATP finals before, and should go in to the tournament high on confidence, knowing that he is playing the best tennis of his life. A tough loss to Djokovic in the Italian Open will have knocked him slightly, but the 25 year old will look to bounce back and maybe claim a big scalp along the way.
Thomas Berdych:
It would be rude not to include the world number 4, so here he is, but his last final appearance was back in 2010 and although he made the semi-final of the Australian Open this year, the run in to the French Open hasn't looked good for Bredych, having lost to Ferrer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Wawrinka, and it is unlikely that he will make it past the quarter-finals this year.
Stanislas Wawrinka:
Stan the Man, ranked 9th in the world, favours clay and has looked good going in to this years competition, but suffered a loss to compatriot Federer in Rome. The big hitting Swiss has one of the most powerful backhands the game has ever seen, and he will look to use that to his advantage as he hopes to go further in this tournament than the quarter-final place in 2013.
Andy Murray:
A semi-finalist last year, and looking to go further this year, Andy Murray will hope to build on his Australian Open final and two clay court titles at the 2015 BMW and Madrid Opens. He will expect no less than a final, after giving himself time off after briefly playing in the Italian Open. The world number 3 will want to pounce on the fact that Nadal isn't looking sharp, and he has hit form on clay at just the right time. However, in order to do that he is going to have to beat the man that everyone expects to win...
Novak Djokovic:
They say it is his to lose. The best chance Nocak Djokovic will have at claiming the one Grand Slam that has avoided him. After losing in the final last year to Rafa, Djokovic will know that this is his time to strike, having won 4 out of the 4 Masters 1000 events entered in 2015, swatting aside the likes of Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Thomas Berdych in his path, although he did lose to Roger Federer at the Dubai Tennis Championships. Since November, Djokovic has ruled the ATP tour, proving himself to be the fittest, strongest and best tennis player in the world, and if he doesn't win it this year, it is unlikely he ever will
Ones to watch: Grigor Dimitrov, Nick Kyrgios, Milos Raonic, Bernard Tomic, Dominic Thiem
This tournament has Djokovic written all over it, and if he doesn't win it I can see it only being due to an injury, a meltdown or a sensational performance from Andy Murray. However, there is only one likely outcome, and that is that Novak Djokovic will win his first ever French Open at Roland Garros this year.
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