A familiar, brooding figure will take his seat, the best available in the house, on Court Philippe Chatrier today. Ion Tiriac has spent a chunk of his fortune for his front-row position, just to the right of the presidential box here. He has sat there for as long as one can recall, witnessing those players he has managed - Guillermo Vilas, Boris Becker and Marat Safin, for example - try with varying degrees of fortune to win the French Open.

There will be a special significance in Tiriac's presence today, for he has also been the quiet influence behind the rise and rise of Dinara Safina, the younger sister of Safin, who appears in her first grand-slam tournament final. For Tiriac, the formula today is simple - if Safina can serve out of her skin and not be transfixed with fear, a rare piece of history will be celebrated.

Never have a brother and sister participated in a grand-slam final, let alone each won one. Safin's successes at the 2000 US Open and five years later in Australia, especially his final performances against Pete Sampras and Lleyton Hewitt respectively, are invigorating images of the Russian who had more magic in his little finger than most players have ever had, but did not bring it to the top table often enough.

This is the third time in her blossoming career that Ana Ivanovic, of Serbia, will compete in a grand-slam final and, if things go according to plan and ranking, she should break her duck. Ivanovic hopes to have absorbed enough from the episodes against Justine Henin here last year and Maria Sharapova in Australia five months ago to still the butterflies that are bound to be fluttering.

“The other day someone asked me, 'Are you going to forget the final last year and play a different one?'” she said. “But I don't want to forget because it was a great learning experience. I shall take a lot from Justine and the emotions I was feeling going on the court. Obviously I feel like a different player coming into this French Open so I really hope I can step up.”

Much may depend on how many free points either player can gain on her own serve. Safina's is among the best in the game, Tiriac says. He wonders if Ivanovic can respond in kind. And Safina has twice won matches from match point down, so there is no questioning her spirit. It is in the genes.