The results of the second Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year at the 2011 French Open matter in different ways for each of the top eight women.  So what’s at stake for each of the players?

Caroline Wozniacki – She faces the pressure of having never won a Slam while simultaneously having to justify her Number One ranking after a less than impressive clay court swing.

Kim Clijsters – She’s considered the best player competing right now despite her current ranking, but without any matches for almost two months, winning on the clay will be a “big ask”.

Vera Zvonareva – She’s barely been a blip on the radar since the Australian Open and she recently split with her coach from her successful 2010 campaign so the French Open should shed light on her prospects for the rest of the year.

Victoria Azarenka – She’s constantly struggling with injuries, most recently an elbow problem, but if she’s healthy and strong, she’s a contender for the title, especially if she can exhibit her new-found calm in the clutch moments and keep her past temper tantrums at bay.

Francesca Schiavone – After a strong showing at the Australian Open, she’s struggled and doesn’t enter as a very confident defending champion so little will be expected and perhaps walking on Court Philippe Chatrier will rekindle the fine form from a year ago and help her defend some of those ranking points...

Li Na – She reached the 2011 Australian Open final and struggled a bit since then until the past few weeks so maintaining her seeding would show that she belongs in the top ten.

Maria Sharapova – She has hit too many unforced errors, especially double faults throughout 2011, but her surprise clay-court win at the Italian Open seems to have boosted her confidence and prospects to complete a career Grand Slam with her first title at Roland Garros, which would be an incredible comeback performance after her struggles the past couple years.

Samantha Stosur – After struggling for much of 2011, she played well to reach the final at the Italian Open and given the wide open field, she definitely has chances to repeat her final round finish, albeit with the added pressure of having to defend those points.