WHEN the respective reigning singles champions conducted the draw for this year's tournament yesterday, it somehow said it all for the sense of altered reality at Roland Garros this year that the one being rated most likely to repeat last year's achievement wasn't Rafael Nadal.

While the Mallorcan has racked up nine of the last ten titles on offer here, no woman has retained their French Open crown since Justine Henin back in 2007 but Maria Sharapova breezily dismissed such statistics yesterday. Having reached the final in her last three visits here, winning twice, and having proved her form on this surface only last week with victory in Italy, it was little wonder she snuck in here to quietly soak up the memories of it all.

"It was a nice moment to be back when it's quiet and just the grounds staff are around," said Sharapova. "It just brings back a lot of memories from the years before."

Serena Williams for one will have different intentions this fortnight - were she to add the French Open title to her Australian Open triumph, she would become a short price favourite for Wimbledon and a decent shout to complete her single year slam herself - but the 28-year-old said last night that her evolution into one of the finest clay court players of her generation had surprised even her.

"It's definitely the Grand Slam where I have been most successful in the last three years," said Sharapova, a winner at Wimbledon back in 2004 when aged just 17. "No doubt about it.

"I have evolved as a player and as a person," she added. "I won my first Grand Slam at a very young age and in terms of my tennis life. You know back then, I really enjoyed playing on very fast courts with quick points. I wasn't yet physically developed. I was still growing at that stage. I wasn't as strong as I am today. So I guess to be in this position I think for many, including myself, the transition I made on the clay courts to become a two-time French Open champion has been a big surprise and really incredible achievement personally for me. Because I was able to take something that was a big weakness of mine and make it into one of my strengths."

One of her weaknesses, on the other hand, appears to be finding herself a favourable draw. She faces Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the first round, an opponent who she previously met in a quarter finalist here.

While Heather Watson faces home favourite Mathilde Johansson of France, en route to a potential showdown with Serena's sister Venus, she was joined in the first round proper by Johanna Konta, the Aussie-born Brit who saw off another Frenchwoman Clothilde de Bernardi by a 6-2,6-1 scoreline. Having spent years painstakingly moving to Britain, the world No 144 said last night that getting away from Britain had helped. She has been training under the watchful eye of Esteban Carril and Jose Manuel Garcia out in Gijon, Spain. "In terms of having people to hit with the environment and players available has never been that great," she said. "And now it is even smaller because of the changes, so that is another reason why I am enjoying being out in Spain."