PARIS, May 21 (AFP) - With half a dozen former champions in the draw and Yevgeny Kafelnikov hanging on by his fingernails to the world number one spot, this year's French Open men's singles is set to be one of the most enthralling ever. Kafelnikov sneaked up on and then overhauled Pete Sampras, whose perennial aim it remains to lift the Roland Garros crown, after the Russian snatched glory at the Australian Open while an exhausted Sampras took a break after ensuring he would finish 1998 as top-ranked player for a record sixth straight year. Despite his ascension to the summit, becoming only the 16th number one since men's rankings started in 1973, Kafelnikov has given the impression the lofty position is a hot cake nobody should try to handle. Yet despite his best efforts to rid himself of his exalted status, comprising six straight first round defeats this year before scraping a third round berth in Rome, the 1996 French title winner has held onto it amid the uninspiring form of other contenders. "It's very depressing ... losing six times in the first round and having all the newspapers in the world saying 'who is this Yevgeny Kafelnikov'?" said the 25-year-old right-hander from the Black Sea resort of Sochi. "But once I get my confidence back, it's going to be difficult to stop me." Defending champion Carlos Moya, who briefly went to number one in March after a semi-final victory at Indian Wells over 1997 French champion Gustavo Kuerten, is one who can stop the Russian and will draw on the experience of last year's final win over fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja. The same goes for Brazil's in-form Kuerten, seeded eight and looking good after wins in Monte Carlo and Rome, as well as Chilean former world number one Marcelo Rios. As Kuerten and Rios both look to rise to the occasion, Moya, heading the big Spanish claycourt armada, has slid back to fourth in the world after a premature loss in Rome to Argentine Franco Squillari, in the Hamburg semi to eventual winner Rios and at the Indian Wells final to big-hitting Aussie Mark Philippoussis. One of the features of an extraordinary 1997 tournament, coupled with Kuerten's wholly unexpected triumph, was a semi-final berth for Aussie favourite and world number three US Open champion Patrick Rafter, who proved you CAN play serve and volley even on clay - a lesson there, maybe, for a certain Pete Sampras. And Rafter was at it again in Rome, reaching the final before succumbing to Kuerten. But if Rafter is acclimatising to clay, one of the most-asked questions in tennis has to be dusted down and asked once again: When - if ever - will Sampras lift the title and prove beyond doubt that he deserves the title of greatest ever? His 11 Grand Slams and six successive end-of-year finishes as world number one already arguably make him the greatest player of the modern era. And the 27-year-old American's five Wimbledon titles, four US Open titles and two Australian Open victories leave him tantalisingly close to the record 12 Slams achieved by Roy Emerson. Sampras has also spent a mammoth 263 weeks in total at number one - closing in on Ivan Lendl's record of 270. And yet Roland Garros refuses to be a happy hunting ground for the American, who last year lost in the second round in straight sets to unheralded Paraguayan Ramon Delgado. Sampras knows that whatever happens over the coming fortnight, Kafelnikov, who took over top spot on May 3, will still be there until the end of the tournament. But a French title would put Sampras, who missed Monte Carlo with a lower back injury, right on the Russian's tail - and more importantly assure him of that 12th slam and surely with it due recognition as the greatest ever. Sampras did make the Frenc semis two years ago and wants to do justice to the prediction of former coach Tim Gullikson, whose death three years ago hit him so hard, that he would eventually triumph on Parisian clay. This week Sampras has been finding his clay feet at the World Team Cup on Wednesday and he insists that having lightened his recent load by skipping Melbourne, he can confidently target the elusive French crown. "The key for me to play on clay is to really try to cut down on the errors and to play aggressive but under control," he said after beating Karol Kucera to help secure victory over Slovakia. "Confidence is what you need coming into a Slam and I'm starting to feel like I'm getting there," said Sampras, notwithstanding his second round Italian Open exit to Brazilian qualifier Fernando Meligeni. South American hopes rest firmly with Kuerten and the moody Rios, victorious in Hamburg after beating Moya in the semi-final and Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina in the final. Last year, world number nine Rios was a quarter-finalist here, going down to Moya. And he enjoyed a brief spell at number one after beating Andre Agassi at Key Biscayne before back trouble meant he had to miss Australia. The left-handed Chilean's fiery temperament has earned him the sobriquet of the "new McEnroe". But if he can concentrate purely on his game and show the form which brought seven titles last year, he could well carry off his first Grand Slam, having fallen at the last hurdle in Australia last year. Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman carry British hopes, although neither enjoys the clay, Henman having suffered three straight first round exits to date while Rusedski is 3-4 for the event in four appearances. And the Canadian-born Rusedski is not optimistic about improving on that sequence, even though he beat Sampras to win the Paris indoor event last November for his first Super 9 title. "Realistically I have as much chance of winning the French Open as seeing a UFO land. If anybody puts any money on me winning the French, they should be shot!" he said only half-jokingly after a straight sets loss in Monte Carlo to Jiri Novak. Henman will be seeded seven at Roland Garros and Rusedski 12, but they will be many bookies' favourites as the first seeds to fall. The field is reduced with the withdrawal through injury of fancied American Todd Martin and 1997 semi-finalist Felip Dewulf of Belgium.  