Photos: French Open early rounds

With the French Open title and the No. 1 ranking on the line, the Serb has looked sharp. (David Vincent/AP) PARIS -- Rain and upsets clouded the first week of

Courtney Nguyen | Jun 3, 2014

Photos: French Open early rounds /

With the French Open title and the No. 1 ranking on the line, the Serb has looked sharp. (David Vincent/AP)

PARIS -- Rain and upsets clouded the first week of the French Open, with the early exit of No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 2 Li Na, No. 3 Stanislas Wawrinka and No. 4 Roger Federer, all of whom were sent packing before the second Monday came around.

But as red dust settles and the quarterfinals begin, the storylines haven't really changed. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are still the heavy favorites to win the tournament and they blitzed though the first four rounds. As for the women, it's still one woman against the field. Except now that woman is named Maria.

Here's a look back at some of our favorite photos from the early rounds:

Roger Federer: Effortless as always. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Anna Schmiedlova: The eyes that beat Venus Williams. (David Vincent/AP)

Radek Stepanek: When timing makes a photo great. (Michel Spingler/AP)

Tomas Berdych: A beautiful action photo made even better by the fact that you can't see the front of Berdych's shirt. (KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images)

Serena Williams: It wasn't for lack of effort or desire that she lost in the second round. Her game just wasn't there. (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Roger Federer and Carla Suarez Navarro: Eerie. (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images, Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images)

Philipp Kohlschreiber: The German came out on the wrong end of a 12-10 fifth set against Andy Murray, which was suspended at 7-7 for lack of light. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Facundo Bagnis: Full marks (and effort) for the young man from Argentina in his Grand Slam debut. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal: Eyeing his ninth -- Ninth! -- French Open title. (Pascal Guyot/AFP/Getty Images)

Maria Sharapova: Look at that rotation, load, and balance through an open-stance backhand on clay. This is the new and improved ClayPova. (Darko Vojinovic/AP)

Andy Murray:

Published Jun 3, 2014

COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.