Friday, January 16, 2009

Australian Open preview

Australian Open
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Dates: January 19-February 1, 2009
Draw Size: 128
Surface: Hard
Prize Money: $10,142,240 (AUS); men’s singles champion: $2,000,000 (AUS)
2008 Singles Final: Novak Djokovic, SRB, def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(2)
Official Web site: http://www.ausopen.org/

Top story lines:
1. In 2008, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic accounted for all four Grand Slam titles, who has the best shot at winning this year in Melbourne?
2. Can red-hot Andy Murray continue his remarkable tennis and win his first career Grand Slam title?
3. Handed a tough draw, does Australian Lleyton Hewitt have any shot at getting out of the first round?

Justin’s notable first round match-ups:
1. No. 13 Fernando Gonzalez vs. Lleyton Hewitt (Gonzalez leads 3-2; Gonzalez won most recently at the 2007 Australian Open; Last season, Gonzalez won singles titles in Munich and Vina del Mar, a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics and was a quarterfinalist in Beijing, Tokyo, Vienna and at Roland Garros; Gonzalez is currently ranked No. 14; Last season, Hewitt reached the quarterfinals in Adelaide and Queen’s Club in London and reached the fourth round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon; Hewitt is currently ranked No. 74)
2. No. 28 Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. Jarkko Nieminen (Nieminen leads 1-0; winning in Adelaide in 2006; Last season, Nieminen was a finalist in Adelaide, semifinalist in Stockholm and a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open and in Bastad; Nieminen is currently ranked No. 40; In 2009, Mathieu has already reached the semifinals in Brisbane; Last season, Mathieu was a finalist in Metz and a semifinalist in Marseille and Munich; Mathieu is currently ranked No. 29)
3. No. 32 Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Sam Querrey (Querrey leads 1-0; winning at the 2006 US Open; Querrey won first career title in 2008 in Las Vegas and reached the semifinals in Delray Beach and Indianapolis; Querrey is currently ranked at a career-best No. 36; Kohlschreiber reached the quarterfinals in Doha during the first week of the 2009 season; Last season, Kohlschreiber won the Auckland title, reached the finals in Halle and the quarterfinals in Doha, Stuttgart and at the Masters Series Cincinnati; Kohlschreiber is currently ranked No. 33)
4. Guillermo Canas vs. Nicolas Kiefer (Series tied 1-1; Last season, Canas reached the semifinals in Las Vegas and s-Hertogenbosch; Canas is currently ranked No. 77; Last season, Kiefer was a finalist at the Masters Series Canada, semifinalist in Halle and quarterfinalist at the Masters Series Hamburg; Kiefer is currently ranked No. 37)

Potential notable late round match:
No. 1 Rafael Nadal vs. No. 6 Gilles Simon, Quarterfinals

· Nadal leads 2-1; Simon won most recently at the Masters Series Madrid in three sets in 2008
· Nadal finished the year ranked No. 1 in 2008, won 82 matches and eight titles, including the French Open, Wimbledon and a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics
· Simon won three singles titles in 2008

No. 2 Roger Federer vs. No. 8 Juan Martin Del Potro, Quarterfinals
· Federer leads 3-0; with a 2-0 edge on hard courts
· Federer won four titles in 2008 including his fifth-straight US Open
· Del Potro won four singles titles during a 23-match win streak in 2008

No. 3 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 7 Andy Roddick, Quarterfinals
· Djokovic leads 2-1; with a 2-1 edge on hard courts
· Djokovic won four titles in 2008 including the Australian Open and Tennis Masters Cup
· Roddick won three titles in 2008

No. 4 Andy Murray vs. No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga,
Quarterfinals
· Series tied 1-1; both matches played on hard courts
· Murray won five titles in 2008 and reached the US Open finals
· Tsonga won two titles in 2008 and reached a career-best ranking of No. 6

Watch out for…
1. No. 9 James Blake
2.
No. 10 David Nalbandian
3. No. 12 Gael Monfils
4. No. 14 Fernando Verdasco
5. No. 19 Marin Cilic
6. No. 22 Radek Stepanek
7.
Kei Nishikori

Champion prediction:
Justin: No. 4 Andy Murray

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow JC you really know your tennis!