Join Ashley Browne and Paul McNamee for a French Open preview podcast this Friday on BPL.

Footy season is in full swing and the World Cup is so close you can almost touch it. But the French Open is a great event and certainly worth watching, and here are a few reasons why.

1. It's the grand final for the Europeans

We might place great store in the Australian Open, of course, and look towards Wimbledon as the rightful pinnacle of tennis, but for the Europeans, pretty much all of whom grew up slugging it out on clay, this is their biggest tournament of the season. Seventeen of the men's top 20 and 16 of the women's top 20 hail from Europe, so they're comfortable on clay and would enter the tournament comfortable with the surface and expecting to play well. You'd be surprised just how many Europeans are indifferent to the other Slams, particularly Wimbledon.

2. Rafael Nadal

Rafa might well be the best claycourt player of this, and any other generation. This year he has claimed the three claycourt ATP Masters titles that precede Roland Garros (Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid) and has won 28 of his 39 career titles on crushed, red bricks. Nadal's brute strength and beguiling shotmaking makes him fascinating to watch, and on clay, he can turn the most accomplished of players into a quivering mess if he feels the need.

3. Roger Federer

Having broken through for his first title at Roland Garros last year (yes, Nadal was absent) he will play this year with no expectations and without a care in the world because the French Open was his Everest. And that's when Federer plays his best tennis. Should he make the final against Nadal, an instant classic is almost assured.

4. Sam Stosur

Ranked no.8 in the world and obviously at the peak of her career. Stosur won her second career title at Charleston (on clay) and then backed up with a finals berth at Stuttgart. Surprisingly for an Australian, clay is her best surface because her power from the baseline allows her to control the points. A semi-final appearance last year will spur her to go better this year and she will deservedly be talked up in the pre-tournament hype.

5. Justine Henin

On a similar quest to Federer last year, seeking to win the one Grand Slam title missing from her bulging trophy cabinet. Some say the French Open was the reason she chose to make a comeback.

6. Farewell Court Philippe Chatrier

Well, not this year, but it is time-on in the final quarter for the graceful centre court. With Rod Laver Arena and now, Wimbledon's Centre Court both boasting retractable roofs, centre court at Roland Garros is next. Plans have been drawn up for a new centrepiece for the French Open with a retractable roof and construction is expected to start soon. In terms of facilities for spectators, the French Open is falling behind that of the other Slams, but the catch-up is now underway.