Are we in for genuine excitement at the French Open?

With the world of men and women's tennis in a delicate state of transition at the moment, with the reigns of the leading players in both the men's and women's games coming under severe threat, the question all tennis fans are asking is whether the world of tennis will be able to make the most of this transitional period by moving into a brave new world, or whether, when the dust settles, the old favourites will settle back into their thrones. The most up to date French Open odds suggest things are set to be very interesting indeed.

If, at this year's French Open in the men's or the women's tournaments, we start to see the likes of Andy Murray perform above and beyond expectations, producing a brand new Grand Slam winner in the process, new and ever younger fans might just start to develop a long-lasting love for the sport as tennis seeks to find a way of becoming more competitive than other sports in England such as football, which have for far too long been dominated by the same teams or individuals.

Tennis now has a precious chance to prove that it is unique in the sense that there are many different players who can be successful in Grand Slams and the upcoming French Open might be the start of a run of tournaments that start bringing the crowds back to tennis, in the process increasing the overall profile of a sport that has for too long been dominated by the same characters, some of whom haven't been as inspiring as they perhaps could have been.

With a new, bolder, and more exciting era of tennis hopefully on the horizon after Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open and Caroline Wozniacki continued to show that she's capable of evolving the uninspiring and rather brutal women's game of the sort played by the Williams sisters, we could be about to see the beginning of a golden generation in a growing sport.