Australian Open Preview

Hey all.

How's it going? Great/I'm sorry to hear that (insert as appropriate). Anyway, who's ready for the first slam of the year? I am, and I have been since the US Open finished. Pretty much everyone's here and ready except Nadal. He'll be back, but right now he's in trouble, unfortunately. He's a really nice guy, you can tell from his interviews. I love a humble champion. Anyway, starting off with the men’s purely because it was first on Wikipedia, I'll go through the draws. I promise you I'm not being sexist by doing the men's first. I'm many things, but sexist isn't one of them. Anyway, we'll go section by section and I'll be as unbiased as possible. As an example, I'm not the biggest Williams fan out there -- however, I respect her and think she's hilarious in interviews -- but I'm not going to pick her to lose to Gallovits-Hall. I will be brave and say Hall pushes her enough to win 4 games. I know, brave picking from me there. If it was 0 and 0 who would really be surprised? Also, I will try and pick some upsets. I'll mix logical picking with a dash of unpredictable results. Anyway, let's press on.

Men's
Early Stages

Section 1-Djokovic lives here

Djokovic has an OK draw. His first two encounters are tricky though. Wily Frenchman Mathieu awaits in the first. He'll trouble Djokovic for a while before Djokovic comes through. Probably straights, but it could be 4, too. Then he faces big serving, racket smashing Ryan Harrison. Look for a tiebreaker or two here perhaps. It depends on how strong he returns (Djokovic that is). Harrison pushed Muzza to four at a recent Aussie Open, I think, last year's. I pick Djokovic in three or four again. I think Giraldo/Harrison will be a cracker, but Giraldo is a clay courter by trade. Look for Lopez to do well here, too. Wawrinka is through to the third it looks like. He will likely face Querrey, who has been playing well as of late. Baker is a possibility, though.

Djokovic d. Lopez
Wawrinka d. Querrey

Djokovic d. Wawrinka

Section 2-Berdman roosts here

Berdman has a tricky section with an abundance of talent here, but he should pass through it fairly easily. There will be a TB in his match with Russell, I think. But he should come through. I think Agut will win a couple here. He is in form. I think Melzer is on the wane and flashy Fognini is fabulous, but inconsistent, unfortunately. In the other half, we could have the Belgian number one and two playing each other. Last year Ferver ran into Tomic and this year it,s Goffin. Poor bloke. Hang on. Monaco is ranked 12? Wow. Anyway he's been out of form and Anderson was in the Sydney final. I think an upset there is logical. We shall see, but I think Anderson may have Monaco's number.

Goffin d. Anderson
Berdych d. Bautista-Agut

Berdych d. Goffin

Section 3-No, not that Spaniard, the other one.

Ferrer beats people with aggressive consistency. Del Potro, Roddick at Wimbydon last year. Murray at last year's French and Janowicz (he's amazing by the way) at Bercy. His section is filled with talent but he has to be the favorite. He would have wanted an easier section, though. Bagman always gets good crowd support from Melbourne. Apparently it's the second biggest Greek city in the world. That will be a big third round clash. Karlovic has beaten Ferrer before but I think Ferrer might have just too much. He will return too well and win in four. At the bottom, the man who smashed a racket on his face, Youzhny, and the Japanese number one are the seeds. The Japanese number two has a rematch with the man who beat him in Brisbane -- John Millman -- in the upper half of the section funnily enough. Also here is Hanescu.

Ferrer d. Baghdatis
Nishikori d. Ungur

Ferrer d. Nishikori

Section 4-The section that belongs to the highest bidder.

Anyone could come out of this. If you're here then you have to be eyeing a quarterfinal spot. There's always a surprise at the Aussie Open and it may well come from this quarter. Tipsarevic may well lose to Hewitt. Then there's Muller waiting there, too. Can Bennyman defeat Dimi? I think not. However, 4 of the eight there could come through. Up here it is a different story. Janowicz essentially has safe passage to the third. Almagro is quite safe here, too, to get through to the third. I say Janowicz will have his day but it is not this day (in my Aragorn voice).

Almagro d. Janowicz (in four or five)
Dimitrov d. Hewitt

Dimitrov d. Almagro

Section 5-Juan Martin Del Potro is king here.

Everone's favourite Argentine is back. No, not Gabriela Sabatini (her one handed backhand was to die for though) but JMDP. Chardy is here and Zemlja versus Granollers will be a good one to watch live if you're out there. I think Delpo will be tested slightly but come through fairly easily. On the bottom half is the big man with the small game -- Marin Cilic. Always followed by a sense of disappointment, he's ready to lose early in a slam yet again. I want to know how on earth he's ranked 12, though. Anyway, is you're in his half of a section in a slam you're in pretty good shape. He may well get through, but then again he may do a Cilic. This is quite straightforward, really. Also, Matosevic nearly beat him at the US Open.

JMDP d. Granollers
Seppi d. Cilic

JMDP d. Cilic

Section 6-The talented section. Murray, Simon also here.

Murray is very talented, too. Simon is boring. That's not a slur, he's a good player but he is boring. Sorry, it's pretty much a fact. Anyway, he may play an in-form Levine or perhaps Robredo. That Robredo vs. Levine match will be good watching. Also amazing will be Dolgopolov vs. Monfils. I can't pick that, but I think the winner will advance to the fourth perhaps. Murray is in the bottom of this section. He opens with what looks like a four setter against Haase. He'll play Mayer most likely in the third. No one else is really here except Stakhovsky. He was a good junior and not a bad player in the seniors, too.

Monfils/Dolgopolov d. Simon
Murray d. Mayer

Murray d. Dolgofils

Section 7-A French flavour with a hint of Australia.

GASQUET IS HERE (that needed to be in capitals because its GASQUET!) ahem. Luke Saville, who was an excellent junior, is Tsonga's likely second round opponent although he's one for the future. I think Tsonga will overcome Llodra in four very entertaining sets. Bellucci is here and he plays Kavcic first up. That will be interesting. Tsonga has been out of form and I think withdrew from Sydney like Gasquet did. Anyway, the top is fairly straightforward. Down there, though, Haas, Nieminen, Dodig (he beat Nadal), Falla and Gasquet are all here. Plus Montanes. Montanes/Gasquet will be a great match. Probably four sets. I think this is quite simple really.

Tsonga d. Bellucci
Gasquet d. Haas

Gasquet d. Tsonga

Section 8-Federer

Why Federer? Because any section with Federer just needs Federer as its title. It's quite simple up top, really. Rosol is here, though, and he will test Raonic if he can come through, but I don't see him doing much more than nicking a set. Kohl is pretty safe, although his match with Darcis will be fun to watch. Down below, Klizan/Tomic will be fantastic and Paire/Federer will be good, also. I think Davydenko will test Federer before succumbing in four. I think this is quite basic, this section.

Raonic d. Kohlschrieber (tight match, he beat another big server in Isner at the Open)
Federer d. Tomic

Federer d. Raonic (in four or five)

QFs

Djokovic V. Berdman. This will be like last year when Berdman played Nadal. It'll be a tight four setter with a tiebreak or two, but in the end Djokovic should have just a little bit too much. I think Berdych will be agressive and Djokovic will play the counter puncher, but we will see.

Djokovic in 4

Ferrer V. Dimitrov. Ferrer will be too consistent here. He will grind down Dimitrov. He will turn it into an ugly battle. And then he will win. But there are going to be some excellent rallies and fantastic shots.

Ferrer in 4

Del Potro V. Murray. OK. I have to make a hard decision here. Murray was poor in Brisbane. He won it by grinding out victories against a sub-par field. He was challenged by the likes of Millman, which he certainly shouldn't be. However, I haven’t seen Delpo play and his record against Muzza is shocking. I reckon, though, whoever wins this will have nothing left for the semi. I cant pick it. Heart says Delpo, but head says Murray. This is going 5 most likely. Hopefully he plays as well as he did against Djokovic at the Open.

A classic five setter

Federer V. Gasquet. This will be the most beautiful to watch quarterfinal. Two of the prettiest games out there will go head to head here. Gasquet will be playing his first Aussie quarterfinal, of course, but he and Federer speak the same language, or a similar one and are quite friendly towards one another. Anyway this will be a good one to watch. I'll be kind with my prediction.

Federer in 4 (being kind, I'll give Richard a set here.)

SFs

Djokovic V. Ferrer. He just beat the Spaniard 0 and 3 at Abu Dhabi. He's just too good for Ferrer, as he has proved time and time again. I think Ferrer will up his game and put in everything he has, but there's only one outcome.

Djokovic in 4

Federer vs Juan Murray del Andy. I think Federer will be fairly fresh for this and I think he'll beat whoever it is in four sets. He always beats these two in slams. He knows how to win slam semis, too.

Federer in 4

Final

Djokovic vs Federer. I need to do the women's, so I'll just say it quick. Djokovic is younger and tires less easily. I'll go with him in 4 or 5.

Women's
Early Stages

Section 1-It's Vika's party

Both Vika and Serena start off against Romanians. Jamie Hampton is here with Vika, too. Niculescu is the perfect opener. Tricky, but there's no danger of Vika actually losing. She'll win something like 6-4 6-2 or 6-3 6-1. Arvidsson is here, too. Very talented girl. And, of course, the younger sister of The Radwanska. Moving on quickly. The best one hander in the women's game right now is Vinci and the Swashbuckling Taranton (she was born in Tarnto) looks set to face Vika in the fourth. I've always loved watching Vinci play. I've seen her live at Wimbledon, in fact. Garcia, who pushed Sharapova at the French recently is here. So is Hercog, Vesnina and talented American Lepchenko. Lepchenko has two tricky matches, but I think she'll come through them both if only just.

Azarenka d. Hampton
Vinci d. Lepchenko

Azarenka d. Vinci

Section 2-Who wants it the most?

Out of form Woz stars in arguably the most interesting opening round clash alongside Lisicki. Also here is in form Davis and A-Pavs. I'm a big fan of the latter and was impressed with her Sydney form. Hlavackova is a decent player, too. In this section there are two slams. They all belong to Svetlana Kuznetsova. She has a soft path through to the third round. I'm sorry, but both Errani and Wozniacki are very boring, very one-dimensional and ultimately quite predictable. I'm not saying they're bad, but Errani should be ranked 20. The draw broke well for her in three slams last year. I was amazed. She'll drop down this year. Is Wozniacki the new Jankovic? They have similar-ish games and Woz is copying Jelena's ranking trajectory. But I digress. Talented young McHale is here, too. And the best one-handed backhand on tour now that Justine Henin has left -- Carla Suarez Navarro (she can come over it which Vinci doesn't do often). I think an all-Hordette fourth round could happen here. I'm sorry to say it so bluntly, but the best player here is Kuznetsova. Unfortunately, it means nothing because she might just be crap for no reason at all, but if she plays her best there's only one winner of this section.

Pavlychenkova d. Lisicki
Kuznetsova d. C.S Navarro

Kuznetsova d. Pavlychenkova

Section 3-Serena

Same as Federer. Serena won't drop four games in a set till the 3rd round. At the bottom is a rematch of a great Ausie Open match: Wickmayer vs Gajdosova. Marino/Peng will be good. King vs Kirilenko will also be a good match to watch. Look for lots of volleys in that match.

Serena d. Shvedova
Kirilenko d. Gajdosova

Serena d. Kirilenko

Section 4-The Star Crossed one and Kvitova (a.k.a the one where Stephens plays spoiler.)

Petrova/Krumm will be an excellent match. I think Petrova will beat her and then beat Peer, too. Jovanovski is here, too. I can't predict how Safarova will play at slams, but I think she’ll play decently. She must be ranked 17 for a reason. A now-married Lucic is here, too. 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist, if you were wondering. I want to mention María Teresa Torró-Flor because her name is María Teresa Torró-Flor. Right, let's move on from Spaniard María Teresa Torró-Flor to the bottom half. No María Teresa Torró-Flor here, unfortunately. Oudin/Robson will either be a complete dud or an absolute classic. Babos here, too. Halep/Stephens will be great, too. I rate Stephens highly. Attitude of a champion, a great personality and a great game. Schiavone/Kvitova. Huge upset potential here. Kvitova is out of form, but if Schiavone plays another Aussie Open after this one I will be surprised. Schiavone won't win this, but Kvitova might lose it. Essentially it's on Kvitova's racket. Oh, no. OK let me try and pick a winner out of this mess.

Petrova d. Safarova (no not María Teresa Torró-Flor)
Stephens d. Robson

Stephens d. Petrova

Section 5-Can Slammin Sammy Stosur step it up?

If this was at another slam, then this would be Sam's. Anyway, at the top Li opens with a tricky one against a name I refuse to type. Sesil K and Sharapova played a prickly match when they were about 15 at Indian Wells or Miami. Sesil K will challenge Na but I don't think she'll win. Winner of Vandeweghe and Cirstea will likely make the third round. Cirstea beat Li Na at Wimbledon 2012, I think. On the bottom is one surface wonder Pironkova and disapointing Stosur. Also here is yet another talented German. If Stosur can pull it together then she'll win this. She lost to Chang before but surely not again. She lost to Zheng recently, too. I'm going to believe in Stosur here, though. Remember, too, that Li has a bad head to head with Sam. Her game matches up poorly with Stosur's.

Na Li/Li Na d. Cirstea
Stosur d. Pironkova

Stosur d. Li Na/Na Li

Section 6-Property of Radwanska, or is it?

Up top here there will be lots of qualifiers and lots of fallen stars, too. Jankovic will be tested by Larsson before coming through. Ivanovic/Hantuchova will be good, too. Hanty is on form. Ivanovic is playing well as of late. Down the bottom is Barthel, Watson, Radwanska, Pervak and Begu. This is pretty straightforward so here we go.

Hantuchova d. Qualifier
Radwanska d. Watson

Hantuchova d. Radwanska

Section 7-I'd completely forgotten about Bartoli (a.k.a Kerbers easy start)

Hradeka vs Bertens will be a good match. Ditto for Dellacqua/Keys . Paszek normally only does well at Wimbledon, but surely a couple of wins here wouldn't be too difficult. It'll be difficult to pick who plays Kerber. Down below is talented young Giorgi and swinging lefty and last year's quarterfinalist Makarova. Medina could upset Bartoli, but Bartoli does always step up. This will be tricky. I could completely muck this up. I'll give it go though.

Kerber d. Paszek
Bartoli d. Makarova

Bartoli d. Kerber

Section 8-Another chapter in Maria and Venus's stories

Up top is Cibulkova, but Barty will be no pushover. I do expect her to beat Barty in three, though. Zakapalova is a recent finalist. Her match against Scheepers will be quite decent fare. Sharapova's route to round three is safe. Williams isn't assured, but it is likely. Right, I've got to pick Sharapova/Venus now. Five years ago, Todd picked Pova to lose to L.Davenport. Sharapova thrashed her and went on to win the title.

"....aha! I dare Pierre to pick Sharapova to win this title, considering she'd likely have to defeat Lindsay in the 2nd, Justine in the QF, and then possibly still have to face and knock out both Williams sisters to win her third slam. We all knew SOMEONE was going to get the joker card when the draw was made... and it was the Supernova. Of course, that doesn't mean that my pick of Davenport to "upset" her early in this tournament will pan out."

Direct quote from Todd there. I think this match will either be a letdown or a really good one. I personally believe it'll be the latter. I like Venus, but I just don't think she can win this. Sharapova won their most recent clash. She also leads their H2H 4-3. I think it will go three but Sharapova will have just a bit too much grit and too much grind.

Cibulkova d. Zakapalova
Supernova d. Venus (I readily admit I may still be wrong)

Supernova d. Cibulkova

QFs

Azarenka vs. Kuznetsova. During this match Sveta will play a couple of points and shots which will make you say, "Wow how do you teach that?" The answer is you can't. It's Sveta magic. Unfortunately, she throws in 5 awful errors for every one of those. I think this will be a good match for all concerned. Put it on Rod Laver at night. But Sveta isn’t back yet. So...

Azarenka in 3

Serena vs. Stephens. They had a great match in Brisbane. Look for more of the same here.

Serena in 2 (tight sets)

Stosur vs. Hantuchova. Looking at it, if she can slay all her demons her path through to the semis is quite open. Please please please Sam. Just this once please the Aussie public. Please Please Please. Hantuchova will have a good slam. I'm just getting that vibe off her.

Stosur in 3

Bartoli vs. Sharapova. Hopefully this will be like the US Open QF they played. I still think only two women have enough to stop Pova this tourney. The slightly mad (in a good way) Pastry isn't one of those, unfortunately.

Sharapova in two (tight sets)

SFs

Azarenka vs. Serena. There's a chance they may play for the number one ranking. I think Azarenka has the best chance of stopping Williams and she has come close in Australia before. I think Serena is just too Serena right now, though.

Serena in 3

Stosur vs. Sharapova. Somehow in my head it makes sense for Stosur to be here. I know I'm wrong but I hope in my heart I'm not. It pains me to see her struggle so much with the Mauresmo syndrome. I wish she'd have just one good Aussie Open. In any case, Sharapova comes through here.

Sharapova in 2

Final

Serena and Sharapova have played an Aussie Open final before. Pova was number one whilst Serena was unranked. Pova never saw it coming. She lasted an hour. 6-1 6-2 in the end. Look for more of the same here.

Serena in 2

OK, there you go. My fingers hurt. My brain hurts, Please enjoy the Aussie tennis summer. I'm going to go and watch Scooby Doo now. Just to relax... over and out, and don't forget to read Todd's predictions, too. Viva La Gasquet!

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