Future Tennis Stars

I know some people are getting tired of hearing how great Roger Federer is but you will miss him when he’s gone. Luckily, he will stick around long enough in Australia to take another Open title.

Federer starts against Diego Hartfield (yawn) and is hoping to play John Isner in the second round because the other option is Fabrice Santoro. *Side note* I know the Americans are high on Isner but I don’t think he will amount to much as a pro, I can’t see him as a top 10 player. People are pegging him as the next Ivo Karlovic but you would think that they would set the bar a little higher. Even Ivo Karlovic doesn’t want to be Ivo Karlovic, he wants to be the next Goran Ivanisevic but that ain’t gonna happen. I digress, Federer will cruise through his quarter where he will most likely face James Blake in the quarters, not exactly a big threat.

Novak Djokovic will have a much harder time where in the third round when he could face Sam Querry, Dmitry Tursunov or Xavier Malisse. Of those three, Malisse should scare Djokovic the most as Xavier has been playing great as of late and is desperate to do something in a Slam since he reached the Wimbledon semis years ago. Others in Djokovic’s quarter are Marcos Baghdatis, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, David Nalbandian and David Ferrer. That is a damn tough quarter and as much as I love Djokovic, he hasn’t been inspiring lately after going 0-3 in the Masters Cup he didn’t have tough competition in the Hopman Cup and turned in passable results there.

Richard Gasquet is the standout in the third quarter. If he plays half as good as he did against Roddick at Wimbledon last year, he should cruise. His “roadblocks” are Andy Murray, Mikhail Youzhny and Nikolay Davydenko. Those guys aren’t going to do much in Melbourne, Gasquet won’t have to do much to get through here.

Andy Roddick highlights the last quarter partly because there isn’t much standing in his way. His potential fourth round match is against Tommy Robredo. The big match here could be a rematch of the Chennai epic semifinal when Carlos MOya could face Rafael Nadal in the fourth round. Still, Roddick should advance out of this group.

Quarterfinals
Federer vs. Blake
Hewitt vs. Ferrer
Gasquet vs. Youzhny
Roddick vs. Nadal

Semifinals
Federer vs. Hewitt
Gasquet vs. Roddick

Finals
Federer beats Roddick

Highest Seed To Lose In The First Round Not Named Davydenko
Look for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to beat #9 Andy Murray. Murray doesn’t impress me though some people are really high on him. SI.com tennis guru picked  Michael Llodra to upset #4 Nikolay Davydenko but that is too easy, I had to make it more interesting.

The First Round Match You Just Can’t Miss
Xavier Malisse vs. #32 Dmitry Tursunov, I’m hoping for a great 5 set thriller.

We’ve all heard it for a year now, that Justine Henin is the women’s equivalent to Roger Federer. Maybe. Maybe not. I’ll opt for ‘Maybe not’. Don’t get me wrong, I love Henin, always have, always will. I just don’t thinkm she’s as unbeatable as everyone thinks and I don’t think the others on the WTA Tour think so either. Her thing is that she always finds a way to win and that mental toughness, never say die attitude is a huge tool for her.

Still….Henin won’t win the Australian Open this year, her draw is a pretty big mountain to climb. She’ll cruise to the fourth round where she will face Tatiana Golovin. Golovin made huge inroads last year and wants desperately to be in the top 10, she is tired of being second fiddle to Mauresmo and an upset over Henin would be huge Don’t forget either that Golovin took Henin to three sets twice last year. If Henin makes it through there, she will face either Shahar Peer, Lindsay Davenport or Maria Sharapova. Henin doesn’t want to face any of them, especially Davenport or Sharapova. Henin hasn’t faced Peer since the ‘06 US Open which Henin won in a rout but like Golovin, Peer wants her breakthrough now and is much better since their last meeting. Davenport, as good as she has been playing, hasn’t faced any real top players instead choosing to play in lower events which she predictably wins. Henin would be a major test but Sharapova has the best chance at beating Henin.

Jelena Jankovic must not have been impressed when she saw her draw. Can’t a Serb get a break these days? She will have the toughest first rounder for any of the top seeds against Tamira Paszek. Me no likey. I am actually hoping for a tough match against Paszek as I want to see how her hamstring holds up. The new surface at the Australian Open is slower so Jankovic will have to hit harder which will be a problem with her serve. Still, Jankovic should prevail.

Also in that quarter are Amelie Mauresmo, Nicole Vaidisova (who beat Jankovic in Sydney this week) and defending champ Serena Williams. Again the new surface is slower so the power of these three will be dulled a bit which should help Jankovic should she play any of them.

The third quarter may be the easiest. Venus Williams may be the only road block for Ana Ivanovic but Venus doesn’t really scare me or anyone else for that matter. She beat Ivanovic at Wimbledon last year but I think Ivanovic is a woman on a mission and at the first Slam, a lot of top players aren’t on their game. I am hoping for a great Ivanovic-Safina fourth round match though.

In the last quarter, Anna Chakvetadze may be the sure bet but I am going with Agnes Szavay. Of all the youngsters, Szavay impresses me the most and Svetlana Kuznetsova may be the number two ranked player but Szavay will take her out in the fourth round.

Quarterfinals
Golovin (I know, it’s a stretch) vs. Davenport
Jankovic vs. Vaidisova
Williams vs. Ivanovic
Kirilenko (Again, a stretch) vs. Szavay

Semifinals
Davenport vs. Jankovic
Ivanovic vs. Szavay

Finals
Jankovic beating Ivanovic. Not as much of a stretch as some would think of Jankovic taking the title. If that hamstring doesn’t flare up, she has the best shot.

The First Round Match You Just Can’t Miss
Jankovic vs. Paszek. Jankovic should pull this one out.

No Big First Round Upsets But Don’t Miss The Third Round…
Why didn’t you see Serena Williams in my quarterfinal predictions? Because she will face Victoria Azarenka in the third round. Yep, I’m calling it. Azarenka will take out the defending champ. Also, Henin vs. Golovin? I’m going to take Golovin in the this one. Why? I can’t explain it but I feel the same way about this one as I did when Sharapova faced Radwanska at the US Open last year and we know how that turned out. Also, Maria Kirilenko over compatriot Chakvetadze. Not sure if it will end in an upset or not but Kuznetsova could face Radwanska in the third round. Kuznetsova isn’t scaring anyone and Radwanska knows how to play on the big stage.