1. Can Rafael Nadal reach double-figures?

As phenomenal as Spain's claycourt phenomenon has been on nine of his 10 visits to Roland Garros - the only loss coming against trivia-question answer Robin Soderling in 2009 - and as curious as it may superficially seem to not be again hailing Mr 66-1 as the obvious favourite, well, he clearly ain't. Not this year.

After returning from an injury and illness-troubled 2014, Nadal has been talking himself down, admitting to on-court nerves and anxiety. And if his rivals are sensing a rare weakness, then even in the Casa Rafa that has been Paris, this supreme competitor may finally seem vulnerable after all.

Nadal is seeded an unthinkable sixth, has not won a title among five losses this European spring, even beaten (gasp) by Fabio Fognini in Barcelona. Yes, he has won the past five French Opens, and it would be folly to dismiss his chances, given his history, and game, and mighty warrior's spirit. But the case against a Nadal victory is far stronger than it has been, and he could (double gasp) meet Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. One of sport's great strangleholds is loosening.

2. Who else then? Djokovic? Andy Murray?

Djokovic is the main man, and quite rightly, for the dominating Serb has won 35 of his past  37 matches, including his fifth Australian Open, and two big clay lead-up events in Rome and Monte Carlo. He wants this one badly, as a coveted career grand slam would provide entry to an exclusive men's club that counts Nadal, Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Don Budge and Fred Perry as its only other members.

The second seeded Federer? Here? Hmmm, prefer others. But there has been plenty to like about Murray's build-up; a pre-Rome 10-match winning streak delivering his first two career claycourt titles in Munich and Madrid. A semi-finalist last year, the Scot has recently added Jonas Bjorkman to his coaching team and a wife to his personal one. "Marriage works!" he wrote in green pen on a camera lens recently. He also knows clay, intimately; just hasn't been great on it. So crazy that it, too, just might work.

3. Who will claim the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen?

Two-time champions Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are seeded to meet in the final, and if that head-to-head non-event remains overwhelmingly in Williams' favour, then the 33-year-old has never been as confident or successful at Roland Garros as at Melbourne Park (six singles titles), Wimbledon (five) or Flushing Meadows (six). Typically, it is the American's title to lose, as Williams has been beaten just twice in 2015, by Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep, and dropped only one other completed match since early August. Her Rome campaign ended early due to an elbow niggle, but Martina Navratilova believes the 19-time grand slam champion will eventually overtake Margaret Court's all-time record of 24. Pencil in No.20 for Saturday week. Go on.

4. Two seeded Australian men? Really?

Yes. Truly. Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios are among the top 32, albeit at the lower end, an achievement last logged in 2004 by Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis at Wimbledon. Not that either of the 2015 duo has enjoyed a trouble-free build-up, with Tomic retiring after losing his opening set in Nice to world No.269 Gianni Minna, and thus having won a single match in five claycourt tournaments so far. Typically, for a player who openly loathes the slow surface ill-suited to his flat groundstrokes, the grasscourt swing cannot come quickly enough.

Then there is Kyrgios, who upset Federer in Madrid, and has already shown himself to be capable of anything, anywhere. The Canberran retired from his second round match in Nice against Dominic Thiem with an elbow injury. Just to be safe, though. A precaution after tons of tennis recently. Still, PR not yet being quite his thing, the Wimbledon and Australian Open quarter-finalist later tweeted: "For the ridiculous media out there that keep saying I'm 'battling' to get fit for the French Open. I'll be fine to compete. Put that to bed."

Battling or otherwise, former doubles great Todd Woodbridge tips the young Ks - Kyrgios and wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis - to be Australia's best-performed men at the French Open, with Kokkinakis fresh from a debut Challenger title in Bordeaux. This, of course, is a dramatic promotion, although he has drawn a qualifier first-up, as has Tomic, while Kyrgios meets the experienced Denis Istomin.

Traditionally, this has been Australia's least successful major, and even Hewitt has elected to skip a farewell foie gras to prepare for the green, green grass of a friendlier grand slam home. Pat Rafter was the nation's last male semi-finalist, back in 1997. His record appears safe for now.

5. Can the claycourt major and her new/old coach transform Sam Stosur's season?

Well, they can't hurt. And both have worked well before.

Paris has been a happy place for Stosur, the 2010 runner-up and two-time semi-finalist, and even last year it took eventual champion Sharapova to stop the Queenslander in a close third round. While the pair could meet again at that stage of the 2015 event. Stosur has had a terrible year, not even managing consecutive wins until the start of May in Madrid. But signs have been more positive since then, including last week in Strasbourg. The surface suits her high-bouncing topspin game, even if a first round draw delivering Madison Brengle was not ideal.

Off-court, Stosur's decision to reunite with long-time coach David Taylor is being hailed as a positive step, for it was Taylor who brought out the best in the former US Open champion, and Taylor to whom she has returned. Woodbridge said the 31-year-old had hoped new approaches would introduce different influences to her game. "It didn't work for her," he said. "If she wants to finish her career strong, I think this was the best decision."

As for the other local (well, sort of) woman to watch, meet 21-year-old Daria Gavrilova, from a field so thin that Tennis Australia passed up its right to a reciprocal main draw wildcard. The fast-rising world No.45 is still counted as Russian at the non-majors while her citizenship is being processed, but we'll happily claim her at the slams. A former top junior who has successfully returned from a knee reconstruction, Gavrilova has already beaten Sharapova in Miami this year, and reached the semis in Rome. With no Ash Barty to represent the next generation, that will have to do for now.