With Justine Henin having relinquished her iron grip on the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, Eurosport Yahoo! looks at who could replace the retired Belgian as the French Open champion.

The new favourite: Ana Ivanovic

Last year's runner-up is one of the most dangerous women in the world on this surface, with her powerful game from the baseline and big-match experience. Despite completely surrendering to Henin in last year's final, Ivanovic will take valuable memories from the 2007 tournament where she was on impeccable form in her first six matches and overcame Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals. After reaching the Melbourne final and winning a title in Indian Wells, the Serbian's clay season has been disappointing with a loss to Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova in her opening match in Rome being the lowlight. Though 2008 has been a mixed bag for Ivanovic, she should recover the magic of last year's tournament the second she steps onto the dusty red courts of Roland Garros.

Back on top: Maria Sharapova

After struggling with a back injury throughout a 2007 season that was dominated by Henin, the scintillating Siberian returned to form at the end of last year with a brilliant performance that nearly saw her past the world number one in the WTA Championships. In Melbourne, Sharapova illustrated why 2008 is likely going to be the year of Maria as she crushed Henin, Jelena Jankovic and Ivanovic in successive matches to lift the Australian Open trophy. With Henin now out of the picture, look for Sharapova to improve on last year's best-ever Roland Garros appearance by reaching her fifth career Grand Slam final.

The ex-champion: Serena Williams

With Henin's surprise retirement this month, the American is now the only woman left in the field to have won the title. Her 2002 triumph over sister Venus may seem like ages ago, but the knowledge that Serena's arch-rival will not be in the field to trip her up again has to be reassuring. Her season has been typically solid with 23 wins, two losses and three titles. The only real spot of worry for the eight-time Grand Slam champion was her withdrawal from the Rome quarter-finals with a back injury, which the fifth seed says willl not affect her Paris campaign.

The rock: Jelena Jankovic

In what should be one of most open Grand Slam tournaments in a decade, the Serbian number two and world number three is a solid contender to improve on her semi-final appearance in Paris last season and reach her first major final. For the past year and a half she has been one of the most consistent players on Tour and remains a top player on clay. To make matters better, Jankovic again comes into the French Open on a high after defending her Italian Open title in Rome.

The underachiever: Elena Dementieva

One of the two in-form Russians this clay season, Dementieva has not been a factor in a Grand Slam tournament since 2006 due mostly to her proclivity to botch her serve in pressure situations. Still, the site of her only Grand Slam final appearance is the perfect setting for the 2004 runner-up to undergo a major revival. With a runner-up performance in Berlin, including victories over Ivanovic and Jankovic, and a semi-finals showing in Charleston, Dementieva heads into Paris on very solid footing.

The sleeper: Dinara Safina

The other form Russian, Safina's place on this list was earned in one tournament. Marat's lil' sis' was in impeccable form in the German capital this month when she stunned Henin, in what ended up being the Belgian's final professional match, before going on to upset Serena Williams and Dementieva en route to the title. Safina should replicate or improve upon her quarter-finals showing of two years ago and is serious outside bet to reach the final.

The spoiler: Vera Zvonareva

The 23-year-old Russian has started to re-realize the potential that saw her stun Venus Williams to reach the quarter-finals in Paris in 2003 and crack into the top-10 in 2004. Zvonareva has compiled a 33-8 record this year after reaching four finals, including one on the green clay of Charleston, and winning a European claycourt title in Prague. Zvonareva could very easily surprise one of the favourites in one of the later rounds.

The future of the French: Alize Cornet

The 18-year-old French up-and-comer had hoped for a break-out performance at last year's Roland Garros, but was dealt an extremely tough draw and crashed out to Venus Williams in the opening round. Cornet consoled herself and the French public by winning the girls' singles title and signalling what has come in a superb 2008 spring campaign. In five claycourt tournaments this season, Cornet has reached two finals and two semi-finals. With a top-20 seed coming, the Nice native could hand the desperate French public a memorable Parisian run.

The X-Factor: Svetlana Kuznetsova

The 2006 runner-up has been a virtual ghost this claycourt season, dropping out quietly in the third round of her two appearances at Rome and Berlin. Kuznetsova could also be unceremoniously dumped out in the third round in the French capital. But she could just as easily reach the final. Due to her enormous comfort level on Paris' clay and brilliant court movement, we have to consider thee three-time Grand Slam finalist amongst the challengers.

And the rest: Along with the Australian Open, Roland Garros has been the most vexing Grand Slam for Venus Williams, but the American is still one of the biggest threats on tour. Anna Chakvetadze reached the quarter-finals last year, but has struggled in 2008. Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder has put together some good results this year, while Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues has played well but will be burdened by her low seed. As she showed against Ivanovic, Tsvetana Pironkova is perfectly capable of causing an early surprise.

Jeremy Stahl / Eurosport