2012 French Open: Several Players With Florida Ties To Play At Roland Garros

The 2012 French Open begins play at Roland Garros featuring big names on both the men's and women's sides.

Novak Djokovic comes in as the number one player in the world while Victoria Azarenka enters as the top player in women's tennis. Both fields have star power, but here are some brief profiles of the headliners from the State of Florida:

John Isner

The second highest ranked American men's tennis player in the world, Isner hails from Tampa. he has played in three French Open's and his best singles performance at Roland Garros was a third place finish in 2010.

Sloane Stephens

The Ft. Lauderdale native will be competing in her second French Open when she was eliminated in the first round during the 2011 event. She has won five matches this year and 14 in her career.

Venus and Serena Williams

The Williams sisters from Palm Beach Gardens are back at Roland Garros once again as Serena comes into the French Open as the sixth ranked singles player in the world Venus comes in ranked 52nd. The elder Williams sister has not participated in a Grand Slam event since August 29th of last year due to illness. She won the French Open back in 2001 and was a runner-up in 2002.

As for Serena, she is 17-0 on clay this season already with two titles won. She is 46-0 all-time in first round matches at Grand Slam tournaments. She has won the French Open only once when she defeated her sister for the title in 2002.

For more on the 2012 French Open, stay tuned to this StoryStream on SB Nation Tampa.