PARIS, May 21 (AFP) - Pat Rafter will be aiming to end a 30-year drought for Australian men at Roland Garros when the French Open starts on the red clay on Monday. Not since Rod Laver triumphed by beating compatriot Ken Rosewall in 1969 has an Australian won the men's singles title here. Australian men once dominated the French Open and the 11 titles won by Australian players still betters the record of any other nation. While the names of Laver, Rosewall, Roy Emerson, Tony Roche and Fred Stolle, Merv Rose and Lew Hoad are largely consigned to the record books, Rafter has been leading an Australian tennis renaissance over the past two years. Written off as a "one Slam wonder" when he won the US Open in 1997, he proved his critics wrong by winning his second Grand Slam title in New York exactly 12 months later. While it is decades since a pure serve-and-volleyer lifted the French title, Rafter proved last week that he has the ability to have a crack at turning the form book upside down. The 26-year-old Queenslander made it all the way to the final of the Italian Open in Rome - where he had previously won only one match - before losing to slow court specialist Gustavo Kuerten in the title match. It was defeat that hurt. Rafter was deprived not only of his first clay court title, but also the number one ranking in the world. Rafter, who has this week been playing in the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf, lost in the second round last year in Paris to his compatriot Jason Stoltenberg but is a much better player than he was 12 months ago. He serves and volleys well, is physically strong and inherently competitive. The question is whether he has the patience for the clay court game and can yet pick the right time to come in. "It's a bit of a shock, but I know now that I can compete with these guys on clay," said Rafter after his successes in Rome, which included triumphs over clay court experts like Spaniard Felix Mantilla and Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, as well as American Andre Agassi. Rafter reached the semis at Roland Garros in 1997 and was a doubles semi-finalist with Jonas Bjorkman last year so he does not write off his chances here. "I know I can do it because of 1997," he said. "Whatever surface I play on, I feel that if I'm hitting the ball well, moving well and playing well that I can win matches." Rafter is one of only six Australians to have captured a Grand Slam title during the Open era, but there are several of his compatriots in the Paris field who will fancy their chances of making an impact. Mark Philippoussis, the 10th seed, is even more of a serve-volley specialist than Rafter and his tall frame is not ideal for clay but rising teenage star Lleyton Hewitt may be a player to watch. Still only 18, Hewitt has raced into the top 50 in the world rankings and his all-round game and fluid groundstrokes look ideally suited to slow court tennis. Stoltenberg and Scott Draper are other top-50 ranked players who are capable of causing upsets without boasting the pedigree to suggest they could win here.  