French Open Power Rankings: Nadal Headlines Final 34

After the completion of almost two full rounds, the French Open is down to its last 34 players (not yet 32 because a pair of second-round matches are still in progress). So let's take a look at how the survivors stack up against each other.

In order:

Rafael Nadal – The world No. 1, of course, did not lose a set in either of his first two matches. His left knee could be a minor issue and he has not been utterly dominant like he sometimes is, but his form should be more than good enough to win French Open number five.

Novak Djokovic – Djokovic dominated his first-round match and led Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-4 when play was halted due to darkness on Thursday. The Serb is showing no signs of slowing down after his remarkable start to the clay-court season.

Fernando Verdasco – Verdasco has decimated two straight opponents. The Spaniard, who has reached at least the quarterfinals of every tournament he has entered this season, would have a serious shot at either the semis or the final if he wasn’t in Nadal’s quarter of the draw.

Fernando Gonzalez – Gonzo was in awesome form earlier in the clay-court swing, but he flew under the radar heading into the French because he missed the previous two weeks with an alleged ankle injury. Nobody is sleeping on the Chilean now after he raced through his first two foes in warp speed.

Roger Federer – The 13-time Grand Slam champion rode a wave of momentum into Paris from his win over Nadal in Madrid, but he has done little to inspire confidence so far this week. Before storming back to oust unseeded Jose Acasuso, Federer spilt sets with the Argentine and trailed 5-1 in the third.

Juan Martin Del Potro – Del Potro upset nemesis Andy Murray in the Madrid quarterfinals and he is showing no signs of looking back this week. The 20-year-old Argentine dismantled world No. 32 Viktor Troicki in the second round.

Gael Monfils – A surprise semifinalist last year at Roland Garros, Monfils was doubtful to even participate in this event due to knee tendinitis. Not only is he participating, but he has also been dominant through his first two rounds. The French crowd and the soft clay courts could be enough for another Monfils miracle.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – Another crowd favorite, Tsonga had never won a match at the French Open prior to this season. He has already won two this week, including a huge second-round victory over Juan Monaco, arguably the most dangerous unseeded player in the entire draw.

Andy Murray – Murray has accomplished little on clay throughout his career, and reaching the third round here is already a solid result for him. Obviously he is expected to go a lot further, but he almost didn’t even make it this far. In round two, Murray was tied with Potito Starace at one set apiece and trailed 5-1 in the third before mounting a charge.

Andy Roddick – On clay? Yep. An American is through to the third round of the French Open. In related, Hell froze over today. In all seriousness, though, Roddick has even looked good doing it. Thanks in part to a favorable draw, Roddick has not even lost a single set!

Stanislas Wawrinka – Unlike his gold medal-winning doubles partner (Federer), Wawrinka prefers clay to any other surface. The Swiss survived a five-setter in round one, but is heading into a third-round showdown with Nikolay Davydenko after absolutely destroying Nicolas Massu.

Nikolay Davydenko – The former world No. 3 missed most of the season prior to the clay-court swing with a foot injury, but he is back in business now. Still, dropping a set to little-known Diego Junqueira in the second round is nothing to write home about.

David Ferrer – Ferrer opened his French Open campaign by dismissing talented clay-courter Frederico Gil in straight sets, but he had to go to five with Nicolas Kiefer in round two. Kiefer is a solid veteran, but Ferrer has no business going five sets with him on clay.

Robin Soderling – Soderling makes a living off blowing out players whom he is expected to beat, but he rarely beats the top guns. The Swede did what was expected of him in rounds one and two, but is in a quarter of the draw with Nadal, Ferrer, Verdasco, Davydenko, and Wawrinka.

Gilles Simon – The highest-seeded Frenchman in Paris, Simon had been slumping prior to his arrival at the French Open. He almost made a quick exit, too, but survived Wayne Odesnik in five sets before having a much easier time of it with another American, Robert Kendrick.

Marin Cilic – Cilic is more at home on faster surfaces, but the 6’6’’ Croat is surprisingly adept on the slow stuff. He has not come remotely close to losing a set through two rounds.

Tommy Robredo – A rock-solid veteran who is especially stellar on clay, Robredo advanced to round three probably without breaking a sweat. He should be able to dispatch Maximo Gonzalez with ease before running into Djokovic.

Paul-Henri Mathieu – Once perceived as one of France’s next great hopes, Mathieu is now overshadowed by the likes of Tsonga, Monfils, and Simon. After two blowouts, Mathieu unfortunately now goes up against Federer.

Janko Tipsarevic – After leading Serbia to a title at last week’s World Team Championships, Tipsarevic has already scored two impressive victories at Roland Garros. He surprised clay-court specialist Albert Montanes in round one and then sent Feliciano Lopez packing.

Lleyton Hewitt – Hewitt went down two sets to love against Ivo Karlovic in the first round, but he has since won six straight sets. He’s about to lose three straight, however, with Nadal looming.

Nicolas Almagro – Almagro dismissed Ernests Gulbis, a quarterfinalist at last year’s French Open, in four sets to reach round three. Gulbis, however, has been an embarrassment to tennis this season, so it’s hard to treat that as a good win.

Radek Stepanek – Has anyone even noticed that he reached the third round? Well, maybe it’s a good thing that he did it so quietly. Cilic, however, should be too tough for him on clay.

Josselin Ouanna – He will surely go down to Gonzalez in the third round, but Ouanna is the new arrival of this tournament no matter what. The 23-year-old Frenchman upset clay-court specialist Marcel Granollers in his opener before shocking Marat Safin in a five-set epic.

Maximo Gonzalez – With wins over Mardy Fish, who is actually decent on clay, and Andreas Seppi, who is very good on clay, Gonzalez is enjoying by far the best result of his professional career.

Jurgen Melzer – It’s hard to tell if Melzer is playing well based on two wins over unimposing opponents. He will have to be playing out-of-this world tennis to even stay on a clay-court with Monfils.

Jeremy Chardy – One of the lesser-known Frenchman, Chardy made a shocking fourth-round appearance last year in Paris. He has already done well to reach to make a return trip to round three after ousting tough customer Simone Bolelli in a five-set second-rounder.

Tommy Haas – The veteran German has dispatched two unseeded foes, but he needed five sets to get past little-known Leonardo Mayer.

Victor Hanescu – A straight-set victory over Mikhail Youzhny in round two is a very impressive result. Simon is beatable in the third round, but probably not on clay.

Marc Gicquel – Gicquel has simply capitalized on being in a section of the draw that is absolutely atrocious. Give him credit, but don’t give him a ton of credit unless he stuns Roddick.

Juan Carlos Ferrero – The former world No. 1 and 2003 French Open championship pulled off a considerable upset over an in-form Ivan Ljubicic. It took five sets, and now Ferrero is tied up at two sets apiece with Philipp Kohlschreiber heading into a darkness-suspended match.

Christophe Rochus – Third round of a Grand Slam is a great result for Rochus, who took out both Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement in four sets. He won’t, however, get past a third consecutive Frenchman (Tsonga).

Igor Andreev – Dealing with an abdominal strain heading into the French Open, Andreev has already endured two five-setters. He will be lucky to get one set off Del Potro.

Philipp Kohlschreiber – Kohlschreiber basically got a first-round bye, drawing teenager Bernard Tomic in round one. The German must outlast Ferrero in order to make his trip to Paris a relatively successful one.

Sergiy Stakhovsky – He’s down to sets to Djokovic. That means about thirty more minutes until he is out of the tournament.