2008 Australian Open Men's Preview

[1] Roger Federer SUI vs Diego Hartfield ARG
Fabrice Santoro FRA vs John Isner USA
Janko Tipsarevic SRB vs [WC] Joseph Sirianni AUS
Thierry Ascione FRA vs Fernando Verdasco ESP [25]

[21] Juan Monaco ARG vs Carlos Berlocq ARG
Robert Kendrick USA vs [Q] Amer Delic USA
Oscar Hernandez ESP vs Ivo Minar CZE
Werner Eschauer GER vs Tomas Berdych CZE [13]

[12] James Blake USA vs Nicolas Massu CHI
Michael Russell USA vs Fabio Fognini ITA
Sebastien Grosjean FRA vs Filippo Volandri ITA
[Q] Robin Haase NED vs Ivan Ljubicic CRO [17]

[27] Nicolas Almagro ESP vs Marin Cilic CRO
Jiri Vanek CZE vs Jurgen Melzer AUT
Hyung-Taik Lee KOR vs [WC] Chris Guccione AUS
[Q] Konstantinos Economidis vs Fernando Gonzalez CHI [7]

Severe stomach viruses and severe heat don't mix well. That said, if Raja is even at 50%, he won't be troubled in this quarter. But then there's Slam 13 on the line. The closer he gets to the record, the more difficult it will become. Raja has been competing against Nadal and history for the three years, and history might prove to be a tougher opponent than the Spaniard. If the upset occurs, it comes in the second round. Othewise, Federer is in the semifinals for sure and depending upon who makes it there from the second quarter, the finals is likely. Oh, and can Blake finally get it together and make a Slam quarterfinal outside of the US? His first-round upset as two-time defending champion in Sydney to Santoro could be a blessing in disguise. At least he'll be fresh for a change. Quiet as it's kept, he can beat anybody on the top half, if not the bottom, but he tends to beat himself more than anybody else. Can he cut that mess out and rise to the challenge in Melbourne? I said change is in the air, so....

Unseeded Players to Watch: Wildcard Chris "The Gooch" Guccione of the big lefty serve-and-volley could ride the wave of hometown support and his runner-up showing in Sydney into a quarterfinal showdown with the Ego King. Olympic Gold medalist Massu is overdue for another hardcourt run out of nowhere. Sebastien Grosjean loves Melbourne and Marin Cilic and Robin Haase are an up-and-comers with big potential.

First Round Matches of Note: The Magician vs. The Giant, Tipsy vs. Siranni, Ascione vs. Verdasco, Blake vs. Massu, Grosjean vs. Pippo, Haase vs. Ljubicic

Upset Special: Ljube Job goes home to Haase in the first round.

_________________________________________________

[3] Novak Djokovic SRB vs Benjamin Becker GER
[Q] Rajeev Ram USA vs Simone Bolelli ITA
Sam Querrey USA vs Olivier Rochus BEL
Xavier Malisse vs Dmitry Tursunov RUS [32]

[19] Lleyton Hewitt AUS vs Steve Darcis BEL
[WC] Denis Istomin UZB vs [Q] Lukas Lako SVK
Ernests Gulbis LAT vs Marat Safin RUS
Thomas Johansson SWE vs Marcos Baghdatis CYP [15]

[10] David Nalbandian ARG vs [WC] Robert Smeets AUS
Mariano Zabaleta ARG vs [WC] Peter Luczak AUS
[WC]Alun Jones AUS vs Albert Montanes ESP
Nicolas Kiefer GER vs Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP [22]

[30] Radek Stepanek CZE vs Vincent Spadea USA
[Q] Denis Gremelmayr GER vs Sergio Roitman ARG
Santiago Ventura ESP vs Juan Martin del Potro ARG
Edouard Roger-Vasselin FRA vs David Ferrer ESP [5]

This is the loaded quarter. By far, the toughest quarter to get out of on the men's side. Based on seed alone, it belongs to Djoke. But if Nalby is healthy, it's his to lose. Hewitt? Puh-lease. Safin? Hmmmmm. Stepanek? With no consistently huge servers in this quadrant, he could get out of it alive. The Spanish Dahveed? He'll have to shrug off his surprising loss in Auckland and get back to his late 2007 form to even get by the snaky Czech. Ferrero? Ever since he had chicken pox, he hasn't been the same. But his solid showing in Auckland might be just the inspiration he needs. And it's not like he's never been deep in Melbourne. Baghdatis could also re-ignite his career with a run to at least the semis. If he can get by a former champion in the first round, he can ride the Greek-Cypriot flags into the semis. It was just two years ago that he contested the final and almost had a two set to love lead on Raja. Who gets out? I have no idea. I put up Davy's picture because it's the best.

Unseeded Players to Watch: So, so many. Former champions Safin and Johansson, Gulbis, Malisse, Kiefer, Rochus, del Potro, even Becker and Spadea if they're up to the task.

First Round Matches of Note: Blake vs. Massu, Gulbis vs. Safin, Querrey vs. Rochus, Kiefer vs. Ferrero, Malisse vs. Tursunov, Baghdatis vs. Johansson. A tournament within a tournament.

Upset Special: Can't see one coming. Well, maybe I can, but I don't want to give it voice.

=========================================================

[8]Richard Gasquet FRA vs [WC] Nick Lindahl AUS
Feliciano Lopez ESP vs [Q] Wayne Odesnik USA
Kristor Vliegen BEL vs Olivier Patience FRA
Andrei Pavel ROM vs Igor Andreev RUS [31]

[18] Juan Ignacio Chela ARG vs Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ESP
Alejandro Falla COL vs Q Kevin Anderson RSA
[Q] Sam Warburg USA vs Juan Pablo Brzezicki ARG
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA vs Andy Murray GBR [9]

[14] Mikhail Youzhny RUS vs [WC] Mathieu Montcourt FRA
Harel Levy ISR vs Andreas Seppi ITA
Dudi Sela ISR vs [Q] Martin Slanar AUT
[Q] Jamie Baker vs Ivo Karlovic CRO [20]

[26] Stanislas Wawrinka SUI vs Julien Benneteau FRA
Yen-Hsun Lu TPE vs Marc Gicquel FRA
Nicolas Mahut FRA vs Jose Acasuso ARG
Michael Llodra FRA vs Nikolay Davydenko RUS [4]

If a draw had open windows and doors, it would look like this one. This is Kolya's draw, but he really doesn't like the heat. If he can avoid it and keep his serve in the box, he'll make another deep Slam run. If. Gasquet has already complained that he's not strong enough to handle the big balls that fluff on a surface that sounds like an advancement in the maxi pad. Murray will have his hands full in the first round, and even if he gets by that, I'm not convinced he won't be getting the out the kitchen. Chela plays well in Melbourne and he's beaten Andy here. Who's going to get out of this quarter, people? Your guess is as good as mine. But if I had to guess, I'd go with Youzhny who's been in good form since late last year. And he plays well in Melbourne. And he's been to a Slam semifinal before.

Unseeded Players to Watch: F-Lo could spoil the party for everyone in this quarter. If Tsonga can get my Murray, watch out. I'd actually like to see a rematch of their Wimbledon third round in the round of 16 here. And it's not at all farfetched.

First Round Matches of Note: Sripper vs. Kolya, Ali vs. Andy, Mahut vs. Acasuso, Wawrinka vs. Benneteau and the all-lefty affair of Lopez vs. Odesnik.

Upset Special: Llodra takes out Kolya, but only if it's oppressively hot.

_________________________________________________

[6] Andy Roddick USA vs [Q] Lukas Dlouhy CZE
Donald Young USA vs Micheal Berrer GER
Evgeny Korolev RUS vs [Q] Marcel Granollers-Pujol ESP
[Q] Roko Karanusic CRO vs Philipp Kohlschreiber GER [29]

[24] Jarkko Nieminen FIN vs Frank Dancevic CAN
[WC] Jesse Levine USA vs Martin Vassallo Arguello ARG
Mardy Fish USA vs Boris Pashanski SRB
Mischa Zverev GER vs Tommy Robredo ESP [11]

[16] Carlos Moya ESP vs Stefan Koubek AUS
Luis Horna PER vs Agustin Calleri ARG
Paul Capdeville ARG vs [WC] Brydan Klein AUS
Victor Hanescu ROM vs Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA [23]

[28] Gilles Simon FRA vs Bobby Reynolds USA
Arnaud Clement FRA vs Rainer Schuettler GER
Florent Serra FRA vs Florian Mayer GER
[Q] Viktor Troicki SRB vs Rafael Nadal ESP [2]

Roddick tends to get challenging draws at Slams right out of the gate. But he has to be celebrating (not too much) about his section. And he must remember a draw is only easy if you get through it. Coming in off of his three-peat in Kooyong where he didn't drop serve or set, not to mention the Davis Cup victory, he has to be feeling confident. Nadal or Moya will await in the quarterfinals, and depending upon how much they wear each other out again, Roddick's chances of getting by either of them are pretty good at this venue. But Rafa is Rafa, so we can't count him out.

Unseeded Players to Watch: The first time anyone ever heard of Rainer Schuettler was during his run to the finals here in 2003. He's fallen away since, but he's fit, he loves the heat, and he can grind with anybody. Mardy made the quarterfinals last year, and he has to like his draw. At least his first few potential rounds. And he has a chance in the second round to make up for his breakdown in the face of Robredo at last year's US Open. He'll get Andy in the 16s, just as he did in the quarters last year, and he'll hope to fare much better. And then there's young Donald. Provided he gets past Berrer, who is no slouch, how much of a challenge can he post to the top American in round two?

First Round Matches of Note: For the grinding-match-that-may-never-end lover in you, see Clement vs. Schuettler and Horna vs. Calleri

Upset Special: None, unless Dancevic gets back his form from last summer.