"I always play well in Berlin before I win the French Open," Henin-Hardenne said. "It gives you confidence to show you are strong. But there are no rules on how to win a grand slam."
Mauresmo, who captured the German Open in 2001 and 2004, in January won the Australian Open -- her first grand slam title in 11 years on tour.
With that triumph and her top ranking, the 27-year-old Frenchwoman has achieved two of her goals.
"Those are why you have emotions on court, that is what you work for," Mauresmo said. "But I have had so many great things happen to me, the way I look at it, anything else is just extra."
Mauresmo and Henin-Hardenne regard Petrova and Kim Clijsters, who isn't playing in Berlin but won in Warsaw on Sunday, as the biggest threats at Roland Garros.
When Petrova lost year's final to Henin-Hardenne, she had never won a singles tournament.
Petrova has since won four tournaments, including American clay-court events in Charleston and Amelia Island this year.
"When you play, you learn things," Petrova said. "I'm having more and more fun when I am out there playing -- I'm not so tense."
Top-seeded Marion Bartoli of France was upset in the first round of the Prague Open, losing to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 on Monday.
Third-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel beat wild card Nikola Frankova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-1, but eighth-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine lost to Martina Sucha of Slovakia 7-6 (1), 6-2.
Zuzana Ondraskova of the Czech Republic, last year's runner-up, defeated Mariana Diaz-Oliva of Argentina 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3, and faces Peer next.
Stephanie Foretz of France topped Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland 6-3, 6-3, and will meet Kanepi in the second round, and Meghann Shaughnessy of the US advanced after defeating Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine 6-2, 6-2.
Martina Navratilova will compete in her former Czech homeland for the first time in 20 years. Born in Prague, she defected in 1975 and became a US citizen in 1981. She returned to the former Czechoslovakia in 1986 to help the US Fed Cup team.
RSS