Laura Robson has been taking care to stay out of the spotlight in the build-up to the French Open, and it is probably just as well because as the Briton prepares to face former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the first round tomorrow, expectations are growing.

The 19-year-old's reputation as a big-match player has prompted many experts to make her favourite to beat the Dane, who has won just one match on clay this year. Wozniacki is still ranked No 10 but Robson showed a liking for toppling top players when beating Kim Clijsters and Li Na at last year's US Open and knocking out former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova at this year's Australian Open.

Being the underdog is her preferred role but with no Andy Murray to hog the spotlight in Paris, as he recovers from his back injury, British attention will be firmly fixed on Robson who has lifted her ranking to a career-high 35 and who will believe she can beat Wozniacki.

Yesterday, Wozniacki, who is also seeded 10, enlisted the help of the left-handed Kvitova, who knows all about Robson and who, in style terms, is a mirror image of the Briton, with a powerful forehand and two-handed backhand.

The session probably wasn't much help to Wozniacki, who was watched by her boyfriend, golfer Rory McIlroy, as Kvitova blasted a succession of winners past her, an ominous sign for tomorrow's match, perhaps.

While Robson has been in rude health lately, Heather Watson has been battling to overcome the after-effects of glandular fever, which forced her off the Tour for two months and which seemingly had been affecting her for a couple of months before that.

Watson, who turned 21 a week ago, was her smiling old self yesterday as she said expressed her delight at being back but made the point she was here to win, not just to enjoy herself.

"Even though I'm not looking at my ranking [50, down from a career-high 39 in February] and am focusing on myself, I still want to go out and do well," Watson said. "I'm not going to use glandular fever as an excuse. I wouldn't have come here if I wasn't ready."

Compared to Robson, expectations may not quite so high but Watson is confident she can get the better of Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele.

"I've played her twice," Watson said. "I played her here two years ago in the last round of qualifying and won that match. And then I played her in Memphis this year [and lost], but I had glandular fever."

Scotland's Elena Baltacha, who is back after foot surgery and playing here on a protected ranking, takes on Marina Erakovic of New Zealand in round one. But most of the attention tomorrow will be on Robson as she tries to earn a win which could be enough to push her inside the world's top 32. If she holds that, she would then be seeded for Wimbledon.

In recent years, the first day has been a damp squib with few marquee names in action but that has changed this year, with Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic all due to play today.

Serena, the overwhelming favourite for the women's title after victories in Madrid and Rome, plays Georgia's Ana Tatishvili, a product of the Chris Evert Academy, in her first-round match.

Twelve months ago, the American suffered her earliest Grand Slam exit when she was beaten by France's Virginie Razzano, a result that prompted her to team up with coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

Since then, Serena has won two Grand Slam titles to extend her overall tally to 15; picked up an Olympic gold medal; won 10 tournaments out of 13; and won 67 of her 70 matches. Defending champion Maria Sharapova is seeded to play Williams in the final but the Russian has not beaten her rival since the 2004 final at Wimbledon.