The Hunted Hingis

Assuming Venus can get by Ai Sugiyama in the second round (Sugiyama is the highest-ranked player who's unseeded), и also counting on Spirlea to keep her head in check, their round of 16 match figures to be a doozy. Spirlea is starting to come into form, и can beat anyone on a given day -- и also play some of the most lackluster tennis in the world when the muse doesn't strike her. I'll give Venus the slight edge in this one; something will annoy Spirlea at a critical stage и the tents will fold up.

In the next quarter, Kournikova's got a great chance to make a big splash versus Novotna in the round of 16. This is Anna's match for the taking. Novotna's least effective surface is clay, и Kournikova has a game that's fluid enough for all surfaces. Her likely quarterfinal opponent will be Seles, who even in the wake of her father's death figures to turn on the juice for a few rounds. But Kournikova has confidence from having beaten Seles at Lipton. Moreover, she's got the mobility to hang with Monica и force the three-time French champ into fatigue и errors.

On the other half of the draw, Amanda Coetzer has been playing her brand of airtight, rabbit-like tennis. But she's got a tough first-rounder against talented Swiss southpaw Патти Шнидер. If Coetzer can grub her way through this, и I think she will, she'll move smoothly to the round of 16, probably versus the mercurial Мари Пьерс. For my money, Pierce is now becoming an overvalued stock. She's a less talented, less accomplished female Андрэ Агасси: a crowdpleaser who hits the tar out of the ball but rarely delivers. Most times, she's blown Coetzer off the court, but here I'll give the nod to the South African.

But Coetzer's run will end in the quarters when she meets an even craftier version of herself in Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. For most of the last year, Arantxa has been in the doldrums, still searching for the form that made her number one several years ago. This year in Париж, aided by a benign draw, I see the Spaniard reaching the semis. Her most compelling match will be in the round of 16 versus either Dominique van Roost or, most engaging of all, Serena Williams. Sanchez-Serena would be captivating. Unlike Venus, Serena has a smoothness to her strokes, backed by a floating kind of footwork. She's still got some rough spots и patches of inconsistency, which I believe will give Sanchez just the opening she needs.

The lower quarter is the toughest one in the tournament. Majoli has played utterly uninspired tennis since her big win last year over Hingis in the Финалы. Though slated for a round of 16 battle with Conchita Martinez, I wouldn't be surprised if she went down in the second round to talented underachiever Наташа Зверева. No matter what, look for Conchita Martinez to reach the quarters.

Линдсей Дэвенпорт starts the tournament with a challenging match. She'll go up against Kimberly Po, a fellow Southern Калифорнияn who took her out of the '97 Australian. Po's steady, intelligent, but won't have enough firepower to ward off the new, improved Давенпорт.

Crunch Time

Here's how the semis will look:
• Hingis против Kournikova
• Sanchez Vicario против Давенпорт

All four semifinalists will have a lot to prove. Hingis, annoyed throughout the tournament by all the attention paid to others, will seek to annihilate Kournikova. But again, Anna's constantly gaining confidence, и if she can get off to a good start -- say, a 4-2 first set lead -- she might severly press Hingis. On clay, this could lead Hingis to hunker down и retreat to the baseline. That could well give Kournikova even more of an opening -- provided she stays calm и methodical.

But the thinking is that Kournikova still needs more polishing. As much as I'd like to think Martina will force the action by coming to net, I believe Hingis will win this match more on the Россияn's errors than on her own forceful play.

Давенпорт would like to finally reach a Grand Slam final. I think she will. Faster, trimmer и smarter than ever, Lindsay is at last growing into her game. Arantxa will bring out the whole arsenal -- moonballs, drop shots, sorties to net -- but at this stage her slight stature won't be able to handle Lindsay's firepower.

The Hingis-Давенпорт final will have many fine rallies. Virtually all of them will be won by Hingis, who'll enjoy countering Lindsay's baseline blasts. Whereas a nimble netrusher like Kournikova might challenge Hingis, Давенпорт lacks the flexibility necessary to follow up her drives и relentlessly press Martina. Lindsay will feel the need to put the ball away from the backcourt, a tall order on red clay. When the dust settles, Hingis will hold that trophy -- but I doubt if she'll have invested enough of her time in fitness and netrushing to feel any less hunted. Уимблдон, и especially, the Открытый чемпионат США, could tell another tale.

Men's Обзор: Who Was That Man?

The men's field of the Открытый чемпионат Франции is an altogether different animal. Check that -- an altogether different solar system.

Last year, after I'd made the stereotypical journalist assessment of picking Thomas Muster to win the tournament, I received an e-mail admonishing me for not paying attention to other players. All I wanted to say was, "Hey, buddy, did you have Kuerten, DeWulf, Rafter и Bruguera in your office pool?"

Here's the deal: The Открытый чемпионат Франции is one of the greatest tournaments in the world. There'll be magnificent, long matches, compelling rallies, epic human drama carved on baking orange courts. It'll make for luscious TV. и we're long past the moonball days of old. The winner will work the whole apron, striking big shots, subtle volleys и streaking all over the court. Look at all that exuberance Kuerten showed last year in winning.

And then, whoever wins at Роланд Гаррос will remind me of an old joke. Two brothers left home. One joined the Navy. The other became Vice President of the Соединенные Штаты. Neither was every heard from again.

That's how it's gone in Париж. Please note that except for Rafter -- the Открытый чемпионат Франции equivalent of a guy who shows up in a Halloween costume at a black-tie formal -- none of last year's semifinalists advanced past the fourth round of another Slam last year.

It's as if the colossal effort it takes to win in Париж is so all-engrossing that the player is then spent for the rest of the year -- и even, to some degree, the rest of his career (between them, such past winners as Noah, Bruguera, Muster, Kafelnikov и Kuerten collectively reached the semis of two other Slams following their best years in Париж).

So given all this, I will predict a winner, but where the other 127 players will go is an anarchist's dream. The rub here is that since so many French champs don't do much elsewhere, they're not even ranked high enough to be seeded. Muster, Courier и Bruguera are all dangerous floaters. Other volatile non-seeds include Thomas Enqvist, Magnus Larsson, Goran Ivanisevic, Wayne Ferraira и Marc Rosset.

Marcelo Rios will be the '98 Открытый чемпионат Франции champ. I know this is hardly going out on a limb, but I concur with a statement Джон МакИнрой made to a group of us journalists last week: The tournament is his for the taking.

Here's a look at how the tournament would shake out in the unlikely event that all 16 seeds justified their seedings:

1. Pete Сампрас
15. Felix Mantilla
9. Karol Kucera
7. Jonas Bjorkman
3. Marcelo Rios
13. Albert Costa
12. Карлос Мойя
5. Greg Rusesdski
6. Yevgeny Kafelnikov
11. Michael Chang
14. Alex Corretja
4. Patrick Rafter
8. Gustavo Kuerten
10. Richard Krajicek
16. Alberto Berasategui
2. Petr Korda

Earlier this year, Андрэ Агасси acknowledged how haunted he feels by his losses in the '90 и '91 French Финалы. But back then, he was the hardest hitter in tennis. These days, he's one of many, и while his comeback from 141 to 19 has been impressive, he's just about the hit wall. Rios made him look old at Lipton и Kafelnikov whipped him in Кубок Дэвиса.

What's most exciting for Агасси, though, will be a chance to take on Kuerten in the second round of Париж. My feeling is Kuerten, still somewhat dazed by all that last year's title meant, won't be able to stem the tide. Агасси will be fresh this early и win the match. But even if Андрэ can emerge from a tough section -- rising American Jan-Michael Gambill, Cedric Pioline and Krajicek are among those he could encounter on his way to the quarters -- he won't win the tournament. Seven matches on clay is just too tough.

Michael Chang just hasn't had enough healthy match experience this year. He could even go down to crafty Spaniard Francisco Clavet in the second round, and by the round of 16 Chang will meet his end, for in his same section lurks one of the toughest Slam early rounds ever: Imagine a second round clash between Kafelnikov и Enqvist. Just a couple of spaces over is a first rounder between flamethrowing Swede Magnus Larsson и Dewulf, the winner to play Goran Ivanisevic. Talk about a combustible draw!

Other intriguing potential early round matchups include Сампрас' first rounder versus Todd Martin (who surprised even himself by winning a red clay event in Барселона last month), a first-round clash of German prodigies Nicolas Kiefer и Томми Хаас, the winner who'll play the victor of the Muster-Bjorkman first rounder; a third round match between Courier и Carlos Moya; a third-rounder between Corretja и Bruguera.

The big collective question I have is if the Spaniards can step up и make a big impact. In the same all-for-one manner that made the Aussies и Swedes endearing in their days, these guys have become the sport's leading nation. Yet except for Bruguera's wins here several years ago, и Moya's run to the Australian Open Финалы in '97, they've yet to make their presence felt repeatedly at the Slams. I wonder if they play too much, or if they're too drained by working with each other, or too friendly, or what. One hopes that with such a wide opening in Париж -- it's hard to imagine Rafter, Rusedski or Korda advancing far -- the Spaniards boldly advance to the late stages.

Meanwhile, as Americans seek to learn patience, и clay court specialists grind away, Rios will float his way through. His draw is rather comfortable: a first-rounder versus netrusher Brett Steven, possible danger from Magnus Norman (winner over Сампрас last year) or Ferreira in the third round, a grinding round of 16 against Albert Costa; a quarter versus Moya.

But none of these guys should pose that much difficulty. Remember, earlier this year (or was it a million years ago?), Rios made the Финалы on an Australian hardcourt. He loves the Париж clay, и his wins in Индиан-Уэллс and Lipton gave him even more confidence. Despite his prickliness, he truly is an artist with a racket, able to combine elements of McEnroe's variety, Connors' ability to drive the ball early и his own soccer-bred brand of movement. Майbe victory will even make him friendly.

But if I had any idea who'll meet Rios in the Финалы I'd tell you. Men's tennis is so deep, и Париж is so demanding, that I'm utterly stumped.