Future Tennis Stars

Ok, I called it when the draw came out. I am sticking to it. Victoria Azarenka will upset Serena Williams. There. I know people will call me crazy. I don’t care. I am going with Azarenka because a breakthrough is coming for her, I know it. I feel it. This is how a breakthrough happens. We’ve seen it before, a fringe player we know is destined for greatness but hasn’t quite achieved it. Azarenka has been hyped for a few years, garnering praise from several players including Andre Agassi. A big upset like this always happens when it’s least expected. Williams is playing great, no reason we should be expecting an upset but that’s why it will happen. Come on Victoria, don’t prove me wrong!

Rod Laver Arena

11:00 AM Start
Justine Henin (BEL)[1] v. Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[25]
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[3] v. Virginie Razzano (FRA)[30]
Gilles Simon (FRA)[28] v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]

Rod Laver Arena

7:30 PM Start
Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)[18] v. Casey Dellacqua (AUS)
Andy Roddick (USA)[6] v. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)[29]

Vodafone Arena

11:00 AM Start
Marc Gicquel (FRA) v. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)[4]
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[26] v. Serena Williams (USA)[7]
Elena Vesnina (RUS) v. Maria Sharapova (RUS)[5]
Richard Gasquet (FRA)[8] v. Igor Andreev (RUS)[31]

MCA

11:00 AM Start
Nicole Vaidisova (CZE)[12] v. Ai Sugiyama (JPN)
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) v. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)
Elena Dementieva (RUS)[11] v. Shahar Peer (ISR)[17]
Nathalie Dechy (FRA)[8]/Andy Ram (ISR)[8] v. Sophie Ferguson (AUS)/Adam Feeney (AUS)
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)[24] v. Mardy Fish (USA)

Show Court 2

11:00 AM Start
Cara Black (ZIM)[1]/Liezel Huber (USA)[1] v. Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[14] v. Ivo Karlovic (CRO)[20]
Jurgen Melzer (AUT)/Alexander Peya (AUT) v. Daniel Nestor (CAN)[2]/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]
Monique Adamczak (AUS)/Christina Wheeler (AUS) or Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA)  v. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[2]/Ai Sugiyama (JPN)[2]

Show Court 3

11:00 AM Start
Bob Bryan (USA)[1]/Mike Bryan (USA)[1] v. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/Nicolas Massu (CHI)
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) v. Aravane Rezai (FRA)
Stefan Koubek (AUT) v. Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)[23]
Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/Samuel Groth (AUS) v. Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)[6]/Jonathan Erlich (ISR)[6]
Sania Mirza (IND)[6]/Alicia Molik (AUS)[6] v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)/Elena Vesnina (RUS)

Court 6

11:00 AM Start
Scott Lipsky (USA)/David Martin (USA) v. Jonathan Erlich (ISR)[8]/Andy Ram (ISR)[8]
Agnes Szavay (HUN)/Leander Paes (IND) v. Renata Voracova (CZE)/David Skoch (CZE)
Zi Yan (CHN)[7]/Jie Zheng (CHN)[7] v. Klaudia Jans (POL)/Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
Sebastien Grosjean (FRA)/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) v. Jordan Kerr (AUS)/Todd Perry (AUS) or Martin Damm (CZE)[4]/Pavel Vizner (CZE)[4]
Zi Yan (CHN)[3]/Mark Knowles (BAH)[3] v. Vladimira Uhlirova (CZE)/Jeff Coetzee (RSA)

Court 7

11:00 AM Start
Frantisek Cermak (CZE)[9]/Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)[9] v. Marcel Granollers-Pujol (ESP)/Santiago Ventura (ESP)
Stephanie Foretz (FRA)/Selima Sfar (TUN) v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)[16]/Galina Voskoboeva (RUS)[16]
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)[10]/Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)[10] or Angelique Kerber (GER)/Yvonne Meusburger (AUT)  v. Aiko Nakamura (JPN)/Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA)
Michaella Krajicek (NED)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) or Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)  v. Nicole Vaidisova (CZE)/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)

Court 13

1:00 PM Start
Janette Husarova (SVK)/Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL) v. Tamira Paszek (AUT)/Marcelo Melo (BRA)
Christopher Kas (GER)[15]/Rogier Wassen (NED)[15] v. Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR)/Florent Serra (FRA)

Court 18

11:00 AM Start
Arnaud Clement (FRA)[7]/Michael Llodra (FRA)[7] v. Fabio Fognini (ITA)/Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
Kveta Peschke (CZE)[4]/Rennae Stubbs (AUS)[4] v. Jelena Kostanic Tosic (CRO)/Martina Muller (GER)
Vania King (USA)[14]/Nicole Pratt (AUS)[14] or Maret Ani (EST)/Meilen Tu (USA)  v. Tathiana Garbin (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA)
Rik De Voest (RSA)/Chris Haggard (RSA) v. Martin Garcia (ARG)/Oliver Marach (AUT) or Julien Benneteau (FRA)[14]/Nicolas Mahut (FRA)[14]
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)/Max Mirnyi (BLR) v. Meilen Tu (USA)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)

Everyone thought that Fabrice Santoro would give Roger Federer a hard time. If this is how Federer meets tough competition without playing a warmup event, the rest of the field will be in a tough, but very familiar situation.

Federer so completely dominated Santoro, it wasn’t even funny expect to Santoro. When Federer missed an easy overhead, Santoro ran around in circles as if he won the match. As Federer was about to win the match, Santoro pleaded for mercy, looking at the scoreboard. Federer paused, then served out the match taking the last 10 games in yet another awe-inspiring 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 romp.

So why is this such a big deal? Santoro is the oldest player in the draw and Federer is an all-time great, shouldn’t this have been expected? Sure, Federer was supposed to beat Santoro but again, this is Fabrice Santoro. Regardless of his age and the fact he’s now played in 62 Grand Slams, he can still give the best players fits and isn’t prone to upsetting the odd top 1o player every now and then. Not to mention that Federer didn’t play any warm up events, hasn’t played in a tournament since the Masters Cup and no one knew if this may be the first time he doesn’t win a Slam outside of Paris in God knows how long. Still, Federer shows that he is perfection personified and that no matter what we may think, he’s not ready to go downhill yet.

Rod Laver Arena

11:00 AM Start
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) v. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[2]
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Fabrice Santoro (FRA)
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[19] v. Denis Istomin (UZB)

Rod Laver Arena

7:30 PM Start
Tathiana Garbin (ITA) v. Ana Ivanovic (SRB)[4]
Marat Safin (RUS) v. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)[15]

Vodafone Arena

11:00 AM Start
Venus Williams (USA)[8] v. Camille Pin (FRA)
Alize Cornet (FRA) v. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[9]
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] v. Simone Bolelli (ITA)
David Nalbandian (ARG)[10] v. Peter Luczak (AUS)

MCA

11:00 AM Start
Alun Jones (AUS) v. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)[22]
Anna Chakvetadze (RUS)[6] v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)
Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) v. David Ferrer (ESP)[5]
James Blake (USA)[12] v. Michael Russell (USA)

Show Court 2

11:00 AM Start
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) v. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[25]
Nadia Petrova (RUS)[14] v. Anne Kremer (LUX)
Monique Adamczak (AUS)/Christina Wheeler (AUS) v. Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA)
Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) v. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)[7]

Show Court 3

11:00 AM Start
Oscar Hernandez (ESP) v. Tomas Berdych (CZE)[13]
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) v. Sania Mirza (IND)[31]
Sam Querrey (USA) v. Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)[32]
Na Li (CHN)[24] v. Maria Elena Camerin (ITA)

Court 5

1:00 PM Start
Petr Pala (CZE)/Martin Vassallo Arguello (ARG) v. Rik De Voest (RSA)/Chris Haggard (RSA)
Alison Bai (AUS)/Nicole Kriz (AUS) v. Emmanuelle Gagliardi (SUI)/Patty Schnyder (SUI)

Court 6

11:00 AM Start
Akiko Morigami (JPN) v. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)[27]
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[29] v. Pauline Parmentier (FRA)
Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[28] v. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)
Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) v. Robin Haase (NED)

Court 7

11:00 AM Start
Christopher Kas (GER)[15]/Rogier Wassen (NED)[15] v. Samuel Groth (AUS)/Joseph Sirianni (AUS)
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)/Bethanie Mattek (USA) v. Nathalie Dechy (FRA)[5]/Dinara Safina (RUS)[5]
Vincent Spadea (USA) v. Denis Gremelmayr (GER)
Marta Domachowska (POL) v. Sofia Arvidsson (SWE)

Court 8

11:00 AM Start
Catalina Castano (COL) v. Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)
Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)/Gilles Simon (FRA) v. Max Mirnyi (BLR)[12]/Jamie Murray (GBR)[12]
Catalina Castano (COL)/Kaia Kanepi (EST) v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)[3]/Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)[3]
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)[10]/Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)[10] v. Angelique Kerber (GER)/Yvonne Meusburger (AUT)

Court 10

11:00 AM Start
Janette Husarova (SVK)[13]/Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[13] v. Jill Craybas (USA)/Lilia Osterloh (USA)
Simon Aspelin (SWE)[3]/Julian Knowle (AUT)[3] v. Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
Zi Yan (CHN)[7]/Jie Zheng (CHN)[7] v. Olga Poutchkova (RUS)/Aravane Rezai (FRA)
Marcelo Melo (BRA)[13]/Andre Sa (BRA)[13] v. Lucas Arnold Ker (ARG)/Feliciano Lopez (ESP)

Court 11

11:00 AM Start
Yvonne Meusburger (AUT) v. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)
Paul Hanley (AUS)[5]/Leander Paes (IND)[5] v. Luis Horna (PER)/Stefan Koubek (AUT)
Gabriela Navratilova (CZE)/Klara Zakopalova (CZE) v. Casey Dellacqua (AUS)/Jessica Moore (AUS)
Jeff Coetzee (RSA)/Wesley Moodie (RSA) v. Rainer Schuettler (GER)/Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)

Court 13

11:00 AM Start
Juan Monaco (ARG)[21] v. Amer Delic (USA)
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)/Mischa Zverev (GER) v. Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)[6]/Mark Knowles (BAH)[6]
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)/Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) v. Daniella Dominikovic (AUS)/Emily Hewson (AUS)
Jordan Kerr (AUS)/Todd Perry (AUS) v. Martin Damm (CZE)[4]/Pavel Vizner (CZE)[4]

Court 14

11:00 AM Start
Arnaud Clement (FRA)[7]/Michael Llodra (FRA)[7] v. Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA)/Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA)
Olga Govortsova (BLR)/Darya Kustova (BLR) v. Edina Gallovits (ROU)/Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU)
Sybille Bammer (AUT)/Tamira Paszek (AUT) v. Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[12]/Shahar Peer (ISR)[12]
Martin Garcia (ARG)/Oliver Marach (AUT) v. Julien Benneteau (FRA)[14]/Nicolas Mahut (FRA)[14]

Court 18

11:00 AM Start
Thomas Johansson (SWE)/Andrei Pavel (ROU) v. Andrew Coelho (AUS)/Brydan Klein (AUS)
Nicole Vaidisova (CZE)/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) v. Lisa Raymond (USA)[9]/Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[9]
Marin Cilic (CRO) v. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)[11]/Agnes Szavay (HUN)[11] v. Lindsay Davenport (USA)/Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)

Court 19

11:00 AM Start
Colin Ebelthite (AUS)/Nick Lindahl (AUS) v. Leos Friedl (CZE)[16]/David Skoch (CZE)[16]
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) v. Alona Bondarenko (UKR)[21]
Sabine Lisicki (GER) v. Mariya Koryttseva (UKR)
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (FRA)/Virginie Razzano (FRA) v. Alona Bondarenko (UKR)/Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR)
Vania King (USA)[14]/Nicole Pratt (AUS)[14] v. Maret Ani (EST)/Meilen Tu (USA)

Court 21

11:00 AM Start
Tomas Cibulec (CZE)/Lovro Zovko (CRO) v. Eric Butorac (USA)[10]/Kevin Ullyett (ZIM)[10]
Kveta Peschke (CZE)[4]/Rennae Stubbs (AUS)[4] v. Olga Savchuk (UKR)/Yaroslava Shvedova (RUS)
Harel Levy (ISR)/Dudi Sela (ISR) v. Yves Allegro (SUI)/Kristof Vliegen (BEL)
Michaella Krajicek (NED)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) v. Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)

It wasn’t always pretty but it was thrilling and 23 minutes shy of the record of the longest women’s match at the Australian Open. The record of course is the 3 hours 33 minute battle between Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Chanda Rubin.

While everyone thought the big upset on Day 1 at the Australian Open would have been Michael Llodra over #4 Nikolay Davydenko, I called JJo-Wilfried Tsonga to upset #9 Andy Murray and looks like I was right.

So is this fine thing, this lean mean predicting machine calling for any upsets on Day 2? No, though if Marat Safin doesn’t come out firing, he will be going home courtesy of everyone’s favourite Latvian, Ernests Gulbis.

Also, my stats show that I am getting an insane amount of traffic from Australia (I can’t for the life of me figure out why though…any tournaments going on down there?), especially from Sydney so I just wanted to say a big hello to all of you from the one place I want to visit more than any other. Please note how I didn’t give a cheezy G-Day Mate greeting…I figure you guys would be sick of that by now.

WOOOOO! I never thought I would see Evgenia Linetskaya back in a Grand Slam again but she’s back and I am so excited. After all the crap she had to go through and the long layoff, she is mounting her comeback, representing Israel now no less, and is young enough she can still have a solid career. On Day 2, she faces Anne Kremer. Here’s the OOP:

Rod Laver Arena

11:00 AM Start
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] v. Benjamin Becker (GER)
Nathalie Dechy (FRA) v. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[2]
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[19] v. Steve Darcis (BEL)

Rod Laver Arena

7:30 PM Start
Venus Williams (USA)[8] v. Zi Yan (CHN)
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Diego Hartfield (ARG)

Vodafone Arena

11:00 AM Start
Anna Chakvetadze (RUS)[6] v. Andrea Petkovic (GER)
Thomas Johansson (SWE) v. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)[15]
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v. Ana Ivanovic (SRB)[4]
James Blake (USA)[12] v. Nicolas Massu (CHI)

MCA

11:00 AM Start
Vania King (USA) v. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[9]
Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) v. Chris Guccione (AUS)
Mariano Zabaleta (ARG) v. Peter Luczak (AUS)
Konstantinos Economidis (GRE) v. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)[7]

Show Court 2

11:00 AM Start
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) v. Joseph Sirianni (AUS)
Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) v. Marion Bartoli (FRA)[10]
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) v. Marat Safin (RUS)
Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) v. Christina Wheeler (AUS)

Show Court 3

11:00 AM Start
Akiko Morigami (JPN) v. Michaella Krajicek (NED)
David Nalbandian (ARG)[10] v. Robert Smeets (AUS)
Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) v. David Ferrer (ESP)[5]
Nadia Petrova (RUS)[14] v. Nicole Pratt (AUS)

Court 5

11:00 AM Start
Alize Cornet (FRA) v. Clarisa Fernandez (ARG)
Martina Muller (GER) v. Pauline Parmentier (FRA)
Sam Querrey (USA) v. Olivier Rochus (BEL)
Camille Pin (FRA) v. Monica Niculescu (ROU)

Court 6

11:00 AM Start
Juan Monaco (ARG)[21] v. Carlos Berlocq (ARG)
Iroda Tulyaganova (UZB) v. Sania Mirza (IND)[31]
Nicolas Kiefer (GER) v. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)[22]
Na Li (CHN)[24] v. Severine Bremond (FRA)

Court 7

11:00 AM Start
Alun Jones (AUS) v. Albert Montanes (ESP)
Sophie Ferguson (AUS) v. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)
Angelika Bachmann (GER) v. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)
Werner Eschauer (AUT) v. Tomas Berdych (CZE)[13]

Court 8

11:00 AM Start
Robert Kendrick (USA) v. Amer Delic (USA)
Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) v. Alona Bondarenko (UKR)[21]
Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[28] v. Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP)
Michael Russell (USA) v. Fabio Fognini (ITA)

Court 10

11:00 AM Start
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)
Mathilde Johansson (FRA) v. Marta Domachowska (POL)
Denis Istomin (UZB) v. Lukas Lacko (SVK)
Oscar Hernandez (ESP) v. Ivo Minar (CZE)

Court 11

11:00 AM Start
Rajeev Ram (USA) v. Simone Bolelli (ITA)
Ma. Emilia Salerni (ARG) v. Mariya Koryttseva (UKR)
Jiri Vanek (CZE) v. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
Evgenia Linetskaya (ISR) v. Anne Kremer (LUX)

Court 13

11:00 AM Start
Thierry Ascione (FRA) v. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[25]
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) v. Agnes Szavay (HUN)[20]
Lucie Safarova (CZE)[22] v. Catalina Castano (COL)
Fabrice Santoro (FRA) v. John Isner (USA)

Court 14

11:00 AM Start
Laura Granville (USA) v. Yvonne Meusburger (AUT)
Olga Govortsova (BLR) v. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
Denis Gremelmayr (GER) v. Sergio Roitman (ARG)

Court 18

11:00 AM Start
Robin Haase (NED) v. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)[17]
Dinara Safina (RUS)[16] v. Sabine Lisicki (GER)
Tathiana Garbin (ITA) v. Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)
Xavier Malisse (BEL) v. Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)[32]

Court 19

11:00 AM Start
Meilen Tu (USA) v. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)[27]
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[29] v. Olga Savchuk (UKR)
Nicolas Almagro (ESP)[27] v. Marin Cilic (CRO)
Radek Stepanek (CZE)[30] v. Vincent Spadea (USA)

Court 21

11:00 AM Start
Shuai Peng (CHN) v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)
Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) v. Filippo Volandri (ITA)
Roberta Vinci (ITA) v. Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)
Santiago Ventura (ESP) v. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG)

Rod Laver Arena

11:00 AM Start
Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) v. Serena Williams (USA)[7]
Justine Henin (BEL)[1] v. Aiko Nakamura (JPN)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) v. Andy Murray (GBR)[9]

Rod Laver Arena

7:30 PM Start
Kaia Kanepi (EST) v. Alicia Molik (AUS)
Viktor Troicki (SRB) v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]

Vodafone Arena

11:00 AM Start
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[3] v. Tamira Paszek (AUT)
Andy Roddick (USA)[6] v. Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)
Jelena Kostanic Tosic (CRO) v. Maria Sharapova (RUS)[5]
Richard Gasquet (FRA)[8] v. Nick Lindahl (AUS)

MCA

11:00 AM Start
Paul Capdeville (CHI) v. Brydan Klein (AUS)
Lindsay Davenport (USA) v. Sara Errani (ITA)
Michael Llodra (FRA) v. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)[4]
Carlos Moya (ESP)[16] v. Stefan Koubek (AUT)

Show Court 2

11:00 AM Start
Mischa Zverev (GER) v. Tommy Robredo (ESP)[11]
Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)[18] v. Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[14] v. Mathieu Montcourt (FRA)
Nicole Vaidisova (CZE)[12] v. Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU)

Show Court 3

11:00 AM Start
Arnaud Clement (FRA) v. Rainer Schuettler (GER)
Elena Dementieva (RUS)[11] v. Tzipora Obziler (ISR)
Casey Dellacqua (AUS) v. Karin Knapp (ITA)
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[26] v. Julien Benneteau (FRA)

Court 5

11:00 AM Start
Stephanie Dubois (CAN) v. Edina Gallovits (ROU)
Kristof Vliegen (BEL) v. Olivier Patience (FRA)
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) v. Klara Zakopalova (CZE)
Evgeny Korolev (RUS) v. Marcel Granollers-Pujol (ESP)

Court 6

11:00 AM Start
Ekaterina Ivanova (RUS) v. Meng Yuan (CHN)
Jessica Moore (AUS) v. Julie Ditty (USA)
Donald Young (USA) v. Michael Berrer (GER)
Ai Sugiyama (JPN) v. Vera Zvonareva (RUS)[23]

Court 7

11:00 AM Start
Jamie Baker (GBR) v. Ivo Karlovic (CRO)[20]
Monique Adamczak (AUS) v. Olga Poutchkova (RUS)
Lilia Osterloh (USA) v. Patty Schnyder (SUI)[15]
Roko Karanusic (CRO) v. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)[29]

Court 8

11:00 AM Start
Gilles Simon (FRA)[28] v. Bobby Reynolds (USA)
Julia Vakulenko (UKR)[32] v. Elena Vesnina (RUS)
Sandra Kloesel (GER) v. Julia Schruff (GER)
Florent Serra (FRA) v. Florian Mayer (GER)

Court 10

11:00 AM Start
Jesse Levine (USA) v. Martin Vassallo Arguello (ARG)
Maret Ani (EST) v. Angelique Kerber (GER)
Sam Warburg (USA) v. Juan Pablo Brzezicki (ARG)
Madison Brengle (USA) v. Tatiana Perebiynis (UKR)

Court 11

11:00 AM Start
Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) v. Marc Gicquel (FRA)
Yaroslava Shvedova (RUS) v. Tatjana Malek (GER)
Harel Levy (ISR) v. Andreas Seppi (ITA)

Court 13

11:00 AM Start
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)[24] v. Frank Dancevic (CAN)
Jill Craybas (USA) v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)
Nicolas Mahut (FRA) v. Jose Acasuso (ARG)
Sybille Bammer (AUT)[19] v. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA)

Court 14

11:00 AM Start
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v. Aravane Rezai (FRA)
Andrei Pavel (ROU) v. Igor Andreev (RUS)[31]
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) v. Petra Cetkovska (CZE)
Luis Horna (PER) v. Agustin Calleri (ARG)

Court 18

11:00 AM Start
Victor Hanescu (ROU) v. Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)[23]
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (FRA) v. Tatiana Golovin (FRA)[13]
Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG)[18] v. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)
Emilie Loit (FRA) v. Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[25]

Court 19

11:00 AM Start
Mardy Fish (USA) v. Boris Pashanski (SRB)
Renata Voracova (CZE) v. Shahar Peer (ISR)[17]
Flavia Pennetta (ITA) v. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
Feliciano Lopez (ESP) v. Wayne Odesnik (USA)

Court 21

11:00 AM Start
Dudi Sela (ISR) v. Martin Slanar (AUT)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[26] v. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)
Alejandro Falla (COL) v. Kevin Anderson (RSA)
Ashley Harkleroad (USA) v. Virginie Razzano (FRA)[30]

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.

Justine Henin BEL (1) v Aiko Nakamura JPN
Monique Adamczak AUS v Olga Poutchkova RUS
Maret Ani EST v Angelique Kerber GER
Emilie Loit FRA v Francesca Schiavone ITA (25)
Sybille Bammer AUT (19) v QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER v Klara Zakopalova CZE
Kateryna Bondarenko UKR v Aravane Rezai FRA
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro FRA v Tatiana Golovin FRA (13)
Elena Dementieva RUS (11) v Tzipora Obziler ISR
Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP v Petra Cetkovska CZE
Jessica Moore AUS v Julie Ditty USA
Renata Voracova CZE v Shahar Peer ISR (17)
Julia Vakulenko UKR (32) v Elena Vesnina RUS
Jill Craybas USA v Yung-Jan Chan TPE
Lindsay Davenport USA v Sara Errani ITA
Jelena Kostanic Tosic CRO v Maria Sharapova RUS (5)

Jelena Jankovic SRB (3) v Tamira Paszek AUT
Stephanie Dubois CAN v Edina Gallovits ROU
Flavia Pennetta ITA v Dominika Cibulkova SVK
Ashley Harkleroad USA v Virginie Razzano FRA (30)
Amelie Mauresmo FRA (18) v Tatiana Poutchek BLR
Yaroslava Shvedova RUS v Tatjana Malek GER
Casey Dellacqua AUS v Karin Knapp ITA
Lilia Osterloh USA v Patty Schnyder SUI (15)
Nicole Vaidisova CZE (12) v Ioana Raluca Olaru ROU
Kaia Kanepi EST v Alicia Molik AUS
Madison Brengle USA v Tatiana Perebiynis UKR
Ai Sugiyama JPN v Vera Zvonareva RUS (23)
Victoria Azarenka BLR (26) v Akgul Amanmuradova UZB
QUALIFIER v QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER v QUALIFIER
Jarmila Gajdosova AUS v Serena Williams USA (7)

Venus Williams USA (8) v Zi Yan CHN
Camille Pin FRA v QUALIFIER
Sophie Ferguson AUS v QUALIFIER
Iroda Tulyaganova UZB v Sania Mirza IND (31)
Na Li CHN (24) v Severine Bremond FRA
Maria Elena Camerin ITA v Christina Wheeler AUS
Mathilde Johansson FRA v QUALIFIER
Sofia Arvidsson SWE v Marion Bartoli FRA (10)
Dinara Safina RUS (16) v QUALIFIER
Ma. Emilia Salerni ARG v Mariya Koryttseva UKR
Caroline Wozniacki DEN v Gisela Dulko ARG
Alla Kudryavtseva RUS v Alona Bondarenko UKR (21)
Katarina Srebotnik SLO (28) v Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP
QUALIFIER v Anastasia Rodionova AUS
Tathiana Garbin ITA v Eleni Daniilidou GRE
Sorana Cirstea ROU v Ana Ivanovic SRB (4)

Anna Chakvetadze RUS (6) v Andrea Petkovic GER
Shuai Peng CHN v QUALIFIER
Akiko Morigami JPN v Michaella Krajicek NED
Meilen Tu USA v Maria Kirilenko RUS (27)
Lucie Safarova CZE (22) v Catalina Castano COL
Roberta Vinci ITA v Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP
Alize Cornet FRA v Clarisa Fernandez ARG
Vania King USA v Daniela Hantuchova SVK (9)
Nadia Petrova RUS (14) v Nicole Pratt AUS
Evgenia Linetskaya ISR v Anne Kremer LUX
Laura Granville USA v Yvonne Meusburger AUT
Ekaterina Makarova RUS v Agnes Szavay HUN (20)
Agnieszka Radwanska POL (29) v Olga Savchuk UKR
Martina Muller GER v Pauline Parmentier FRA
Olga Govortsova BLR v Tsvetana Pironkova BUL
Nathalie Dechy FRA v Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (2)