AO Day 1 Preview

Hi All.

I hope you're doing fine wherever and whenever you are (time difference, etc.) Well done to Ferrer and Tomic on their wins in Auckland and Sydney. Ferrer is on a three-peat in Auckland (three in a row but his fourth Auckland title) and Acupulco. Tomic has his first title and in my favorite city, too. One can only imagine that feeling of success, especially after all the bad things happening off the court. I am not going to do the full week review because the Aussie Open is coming up and it's going to be two weeks of previewing and reviewing every men's match in at least some detail. Plus, the non-tennis work I have to do. It essentially means my social life for a while will be nil. Luckily, nothing much happens in February anyway. Apart from one of my close friend's (she lives in MA) birthday, really. But I meant pretty much nothing happens on the tour. So I'll get a chance to recover, then it's a month of work covering Miami and Indian Wells. Then the clay season, which will be a lot of effort leading up to the French. Then another month's worth of work on two different surfaces -- Clay and Grass. Then a little bit of a break, then all those big US hardcourt tourneys. Then the US, then a break, then the end of the season lead up. Well, anyway, my favorite slams are the Aussie and Wimbledon, so let's get stuck in.

(Oh, also you don't have to read all of them. Just the ones you're interested in. )



Men's Singles - 1st Round RLA (Rod Laver Arena)

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] v Paul-Henri Mathieu

PHM used to be about 15 in the world. He's just come back fro injury recently. He doesn't look too bad, either. Also, Djokovic is playing his first competitive match in a while. The Frenchman will challenge for a while before going away. This is a good opener for Djokovic. I think there will be some fabulous points, but I'll take Djokovic in four.

Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) V Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) [8]

Expect this match to quickly turn into a classic. Off the ground I think they are quite evenly matched. I think Tipsy has maybe a little more but Hewitt also has better defense to make up for that. This has five set classic written all over it. Hewitt still refuses to even discuss retirement and I think there's life in him yet. I think he's mentally tougher than Tipsy, too. I'll take Hewitt in 5 sets.

Men's Singles - 1st Round HSA

David Goffin (BEL) V Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [22]

Verdasco is on a big losing streak. He is fast falling. Goffin is on the rise. I think Goffin will be too clever, too smart. I'll take Goffin in 4.

David Ferrer (ESP) [4] V Olivier Rochus (BEL)

Ferrer has lost to Rochus before, I believe, but here he will be too good. He is in form and is, I think 8-1 this year. Rochus will play flashy tennis but won't worry Ferru too much. Ferrer in 3 sets I think.

Men's Singles - 1st Round MCA

Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [23] V Matthew Ebden (AUS)

I don't know where Youzhny is at, but he did make the Wimbledon quarters last year. He is also a talented guy. I think he's there for the taking though. I'll go for Ebden in 4, I think.

Albert Ramos (ESP) V Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) [28]

A potentially tricky opener for Bagman but one which I think he'll have few problems with. This may go four, but Ramos is a clay court specialist mostly. He doesn't do as well outside of the dirt. I think Bagman is a different player in Australia, too. Bagman in three sets here.

Men's Singles - 1st Round SC 2

Michael Russell (USA) V Tomas Berdych (CZE) [5]

Michael Russell will be a good warm up for Berdman. I think he will test him for a while until Berdman finds his stride and gets his eye in. Then there's only one winner. This has a small chance of being an upset, but generally I think that Berdman is pretty safe. I'll take Tomas in 4 here.

Juan Monaco (ARG) [11] V Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS)

People are picking Monaco to go down early, but I personally think he'll last more than just Juan or two matches (I promised myself I wouldn’t overdo the Juan jokes but it's so tempting). He may be rusty and he had bad injury problems all through last year, but I don’t think Kuznetsov is good enough to really trouble him. Monaco in three.

Men's Singles - 1st Round SC 3

Nicolas Almagro (ESP) [10] V Steve Johnson (USA)

I've seen Johnson play and he's not bad. Great at college level. He has a great serve and a decent forehand, but not much on the backhand. Decent volleyer. He's your basic a-typical Amercan player. Ever seen an American in recent times with a one handed backhand play at Slam-Level? I haven't. He'll test Almagro and this really could be an upset. Despite that, I'll take Almags in 4.

John Millman (AUS) V Tatsuma Ito (JPN)

They met in Brisbane this year. Millman won fairly comfortably. Look for similar here. Millman in 4.

Men's Singles - 1st Round Crt 5

Maxime Authom (BEL) V Carlos Berlocq (ARG)

Carlos is quite good and has a nice game. He should progress in four.

Fabio Fognini (ITA) V Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)

Agut has been playing well of late. This will be a good match but I think Fognini is too inconsistent. I'll take Agut in 5.

Men's Singles - 1st Round Crt 6

Victor Hanescu (ROU) V Kei Nishikori (JPN) [16]

Nishikori will be tested here. Hanescu used to be a decent player. I think Nishikori plays well here, though, and I think he'll take it in 4 tight sets though this could be an upset.

Sam Querrey (USA) [20] V Daniel Munoz-De La Nava (ESP)

Please. Querrey in three easy sets.

Men's Singles - 1st Round Crt 7

Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) V Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [15]

This will be a good match. I think Stan plays brilliantly here, though. This will be an entertaining high quality three setter. The winner? Stan.

Jurgen Melzer (AUT) [26] V Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ)

Definite upset potential here. However I think eventually Melzer will prevail in four or five long sets. He just has too much for Kukushkin. Too much variety and too much power for Kukushkin. However, he can be inconsistent and I don't know how his form is so this will be interesting. I'll go for the Austrian in five.

Men's Singles - 1st Round Crt 8

Ryan Harrison (USA) V Santiago Giraldo (COL)

This will be a high quality affair, I think. Giraldo has a great return and lots of power in his game. He's very talented. And I'm sure you've heard of Harrison somewhere. This will be a great match to watch. I think that Harrison will triumph though. Ryan's first title isn't far off. His serve is quite big and his forehand is great. Plus he's a fantastic athlete. He should win in 4, maybe 5.

Simone Bolelli (ITA) V Jerzy Janowicz (POL) [24]

This is the tourney where the exciting young Pole can prove to us his Paris run was no fluke. I'm a huge fan now. Whether or not he will rise to the top remains to be seen, but he doesn't have a straightforward opener to the first slam of 2013. However, I don't actually see Bolelli beating him. Not if he plays like we know he can. I'll go with Jerzy in three.

Men's Singles - 1st Round Crt 10

Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) V Adrian Ungur (ROU)

I've heard of Ungur. He pushed Fed to four at the '12 French. Donskoy rings a bell, too. Frankly, I have no idea how to pick this, but I think I'll go with Ungur. If I've heard of him, he must be really good or really bad. I'll hope it's the former and pick Ungur in 4.

Bjorn Phau (GER) V Somdev Devvarman (IND)

Bjorn is getting on now. He faces young Indian Devvarman. This will be a good match. It's tough tp pick, as well. However, this time with the Indian coming back from injury (I haven't seen him on the tour for some time) I'll go with experience. Phau in 5 sets, I think.

Men's Singles - 1st Round Crt 11

Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) V Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)

I have heard of these guys but we are seriously going into obscurity now. I like Bemelman's serve. He's a decent player and Edouard is not bad, either. They're both like journeymen, really. I think I'll go Bemelmans in four with a couple of tiebreakers here, too.

Arnau Brugues-Davi (ESP) V Feliciano Lopez (ESP)

A walk in the park for Lopez. He'll take it in three very easy sets.

Men's Singles - 1st Round Crt 13

Julien Benneteau (FRA) [32] V Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)

There have been some absolutely brilliant players seeded 32nd. Benny may be good, but he's not there yet. He has a doozy of a match to open. I think Dimi is the slight favorite here. This will be a high quality lengthy affair and well worth a watch. Watch out for flair and finesse and long rallies. In the end, though, I'll go with Dimi. He'll win in five.

Kevin Anderson (RSA) V Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)

This will be easy for Anderson. Lorenzi is a dirtballer and isn't as good as Anderson is anyway. I'll go with the South African in 3.

Men's Singles - 1st Round Crt 15

Julian Reister (GER) V Guillaume Rufin (FRA)

In this EU clash, I think that there will be some decent points and it will be a good match, too, but the Frenchman will have too much. Look for him to win in 4.

Viktor Troicki (SRB) V Radek Stepanek (CZE) [31]

Not long to go now, I promise. After this, each schedule is shorter anyway. I think Radek will be just good enough to see off the Serbian challenge. He'll take it in four.

Men's Singles - 1st Round Crt 19

Xavier Malisse (BEL) V Pablo Andujar (ESP)

Yeah, I didn’t know they had a court 19, either. In any case, this will be a great match. It's one I'd love to see live. Andujar loves the dirt, but he's not so hot on hard. I think Malisse will win here. He'll win this intriguing clash in four.

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) V Tim Smyczek (USA)

Well, as good as Tim is, big Ivo isn't done yet. This match will have a couple of tie breaks in it. I think Ivo will triumph in four tight sets. It will be a quick match, though. Ivo in four.

Men's Singles - 1st Round Crt 20

Alex Bogomolov Jr. (RUS) V Brian Baker (USA)

Now this one I know more about. This will be a close match with few service breaks. Both these players have talent and both have affiliations with the USTA. Baker, of course, the Cinderella of 2012. He played well last year, too. However Baker isn't at his best on hardcourts. I'll go with Bogomolov in 5 sets.

Lukas Lacko (SVK) V Gilles Muller (LUX)

Lacko is good but Muller is als a very good big hitting lefty. This is tough for me to pick. But I'll go with Muller in 4.

Men's Singles - 1st Round Crt 22

Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) V Lukasz Kubot (POL)

Kubot once made the fourth round here and I like his groovy serve volley style. Also I'm so close to finishing this. I'll go with Kubot in 5. He has a history of long matches too.

Tobias Kamke (GER) V Flavio Cipolla (ITA)

I've lost count now of the matches. I've decided to go for Kamke in 5 here, though.

See you tommorrow and check out WTA BACKSPIN.

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