Breaking down the remaining contenders in the women's French Open draw

Listen close. Did you hear that? 

That would be the great, collective sigh of relief let out by every woman remaining in the French Open. Ask them, and they'll probably give you some version of, nobody likes to see the top players go down, or you have to beat the best to be the best. But make no mistake, they'd all gladly shake the hands of Garbine Muguruza and Kristina Mladenovic right now, after the two relative unknowns knocked off the top two seeds in women's tennis, Serena Williams and Li Na, respectively. 

The remaining field is still full of mines, and obviously there are no "easy" paths to a championship, here or anywhere. But with arguably the two best players in the sport (and two of the past three French Open champs) going down on consecutive days, the draw has been cracked wide open, and you have to think that everyone left believes she has a fighting chance. 

Here are four players who could find themselves on the Roland Garros podium at the end of the fortnight:

Maria Sharapova (No. 7)

The most obvious pick. Sharapova stands to benefit more than anybody from the ouster of Serena Williams, whom she hasn't beaten in 10 years. In that time, Williams has won 15 straight over Sharapova, including six finals (the most recent of which was at last year's French Open). 

Sharapova, who won this tournament to complete her career Grand Slam in 2012, would have had to face Williams in the quarterfinals. With her biggest roadblock out of the way, she should be considered the favorite from here on out. But she needs to be careful not to look ahead too far, as there are still dangers lurking in her quarter of the draw, including ... 

Sam Stosur (No. 19)

Let's tackle the caveats first, because there are several. Stosur will need to overcome one of the breakout players of 2014 in Dominika Cibulkova just to get a crack at Sharapova in the round of 16. And things won't look much sunnier if she gets there, as she's been dominated by Sharapova (2-13) almost as thoroughly as Sharapova's been dominated by Serena. She has never even beaten Sharapova on clay. 

But you have to like the way the 2010 French Open finalist has looked in her first two matches. She destroyed Monica Puig, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round, and in round two on Wednesday, she beat up on Yvonne Meusburger, 6-1, 6-3. In the two matches combined, she made only 25 errors, while smacking 47 winners, and converted 11 of her 16 break chances. 

Stosur went through a baffling slide after knocking off Serena Williams to win the 2011 U.S. Open and claim her highest ranking at No. 4. She seemed to reach her nadir in 2013, when she failed to make it past the fourth round at any of the majors. But at her best, Stosur still has one of the purest swings and some of the cleanest baseline strokes on tour. You always sense that with a smidgen of consistency, she could beat anybody. She's also had great success on clay in the past. Call it a sentimental pick, but we might just see the 30-year-old Aussie kickstart a career comeback with a run at Roland Garros. 

Sara Errani (No. 10)

Errani has to be as happy as anybody to see the draw cleared of Williams and Li Na; she is a career 1-13 against the the two of them combined, and has never beaten Serena. Twice they squared off in the semifinals of a Grand Slam. Errani won a total of four games over the two matches. 

The diminutive Italian won't overwhelm you with power, but she is crafty, consistent, and an excellent defender. That's brought her a lot of success in the past, especially on clay. She was a French Open finalist in 2012, and a semifinalist last year. 

With Li gone, the toughest challenger remaining in Errani's quarter is sixth seed Jelena Jankovic, who is slated to meet her in the round of 16. Jankovic is a very talented player, a former world No. 1, and is playing some of the best tennis of her career. But the surface favors Errani, who holds a 2-0 clay-court record against Jankovic, including a straight-sets win in the Rome semifinals earlier this month. 

Simona Halep (No. 4)

Only Serena Williams won more total matches than Halep in 2013, and she's kept the momentum from her breakout campaign rolling into 2014. The 22-year-old Romanian is up to a career-best fourth in the world, and is finally starting to make some noise in big tournaments. 

After posting her best Grand Slam result, making the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, she went on to win a title in Qatar (knocking off three top-10s in the process), make the semis at Indian Wells, and the finals in Madrid (where she fell to Sharapova in three spirited sets). 

Halep is the top seed in her quarter, and her stiffest test on the road to the semis will likely be either fifth seed Petra Kvitova or 11th seed Ana Ivanovic. Halep has never lost to Kvitova, and has won her past two matches against Ivanovic. She beat both of them in Madrid. Most serious fans would tell you that Halep has already arrived. On the big stage in Paris, this is her best chance yet to let the rest of the world know it.