As the French Open kicks off at Roland Garros, here are five storylines to watch including Nadal's dominance, Raonic's tough route and Bouchard's injury concerns. 

Rafael Nadal seeking unprecedented 10th Roland Garros title

The King of Clay is back. Nadal had one of his best clay seasons ever leading up to the French Open, going 17-1, with his only loss coming to the next best clay-courter, Dominic Thiem. Nadal won titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid before bowing out in the Rome quarter-finals. His straight-set loss in Paris two years ago to Novak Djokovic is safely in the rearview mirror as he’s playing his best tennis in nearly five years. In fact, if it wasn’t for Roger Federer’s sudden resurgence, Nadal could easily have six titles so far in 2017. The draw didn’t do him any favours, putting in the same half as Djokovic and Thiem, who should be his biggest competitors. Even with no French Open title since 2014, he is the clear favourite to win this year to add another trophy to his collection. Nadal has already added a 10th career title this year in Barcelona and Monte Carlo. A 10th title in Paris looks like a sure deal.

Stars missing in Paris

You would have to go back many years to find a time when both the men’s and women’s champion of a grand slam did not play in the one that followed. That is the case for this year’s French Open with Roger Federer and Serena Williams, the Australian Open champions, absent. Federer is using the clay season to rest up for the grass and hardcourt tournaments, while Serena announced her pregnancy in April. They aren’t the only big names who won’t be in the City of Lights. Maria Sharapova took much of the pre-tournament headlines when the French Tennis Federation decided not to award her a wildcard for the tournament. Sharapova is only a month removed from her drug suspension and did not obtain enough points to get back into the top 200, which is approximately where she needed to be in order to get direct entry into qualifying. Sharapova did however jump into the top 180 after the French Open cutoff and will be in Wimbledon qualifying. Another big name that will not be at Roland Garros is new mother Victoria Azarenka, who has announced she will be returning for Wimbledon. One star who will be in Paris is Petra Kvitova, who hasn’t played since December after being stabbed during a home invasion. Kvitova initially planned a Wimbledon return but announced this week that she is ready to make her comeback.

Murray, Djokovic searching for better form

It’s been a disastrous 2017 for the top two players on the ATP World Tour. Andy Murray has had the majority of the disappointment, failing to make a final in any Masters Series or Grand Slam this year, going 5-5 in those tournaments. The clay season has been one to forget, with eliminations in straight sets to No. 29 Fabio Fognini in Rome and No. 59 Borna Coric in Madrid. Despite the poor form, Murray still has a near 3,000-point lead over No. 2 Djokovic, who also has been in a rough stretch. Since completing the career Grand Slam in 2016 at the French Open, Djokovic has only won two titles in 14 events ­- the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the Qatar Open early this year. His clay season was somewhat of a success despite no titles, as he reached the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo, the semi-finals in Madrid and the final in Rome. Djokovic seems to be getting his mojo back and made a major change to help turn everything around. The defending champion parted ways with his entire coaching team and hired eight-time grand slam winner Andre Agassi to coach him during the tournament. The pair practised this week together and Djokovic seems to be having more fun on the court in the first few days. As far as the draw is concerned, Murray was handed a potential third-round round match with the surging Juan Martin del Potro, while Djokovic was placed in the same quarter as Thiem and same half as Nadal.

No rest for Raonic ahead of Roland Garros

It has been an injury-filled season for the No. 5 seed Milos Raonic, but you wouldn’t know it from the amount of tournaments he’s played on clay leading up to the French Open. After missing out on Monte Carlo with a hamstring injury, Raonic went on to play four tournaments in a row leading into Paris. He reached the final in Istanbul, third round in Madrid, a quarter-final loss to eventual champion Alexander Zverev in Rome, and a semi-final this week in Lyon. These were respectable results on his worst surface and he’s expected to make the second week at Roland Garros. The good news is he feels healthy and has not had an injury concerns over the past month, but the bad news is he has been drawn into the same quarter as Nadal. This is the first time in Raonic’s career he played four straight tournaments without a break going into a Grand Slam.

Ankle injury a major concern for Bouchard

Just when Genie Bouchard’s season seemed to be heading back in the right direction, the 2014 semi-finalist suffered a grade 2 ankle sprain just last week in preparations for the Nurnberg Open, the final tune up for Roland Garros. Her tournament place was in jeopardy, but Bouchard announced Saturday she will attempt to play through the injury. There is good news however, as Bouchard was granted a request to play on Tuesday, the final day that first-round matches can be played. Aside from the injury, Bouchard seems to be in good form, coming off her best performance since the Australian hardcourt swing. In Madrid, she had wins over World No. 1 Angelique Kerber, Maria Sharapova and Alize Cornet before losing to the in-form Svetlana Kuznetsova. These results were much unexpected given the poor season she had from February to April, which included five consecutive opening round losses. If Bouchard’s ankle can heal quickly prior to her first-round match, she would have a strong chance against No. 72 Risa Ozaki in the opening round, but it would get quite difficult from there. Anastasija Sevastova, who has had a strong clay season, could be waiting in the second round, while Rome champion Elina Svitolina was also drawn in the same quarter.