Three months have passed since the top couples had entered into the GrandSlam Standard Final in Shanghai. And that was last year. Since then, most of them have competed selectively at the international level - always in avoidance of having to go up against whom they consider their main opponents in the World and GrandSlam rankings. In the case of the top two couples in last year's rankings - Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova of Russia, and Simone Segatori and Annette Sudol of Germany - they both come off convincing wins at World Opens in Antwerp, Belgium and Tokyo, Japan respectively. The real drama here is presented in this friendly rivalry, these couples have been head to head for the past three years, and the Russian team is hungry for a win, especially after their defeat by Segatori and Sudol at last year's GrandSlam. And this competition isn't over yet, especially now that a new challenge has arisen. The new judging system version 3.0 that will provide more transparency to the adjudication process, using 0.25 instead of the former 0.5 increments to score competitors. Who will start off on top at this year's GrandSlam?
