Brisbane International preview

Brisbane International
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Dates: January 4-11, 2009
Draw Size: 32
Surface: Hard
Prize Money: $484,750; men’s singles champion: $77,200
2008 Singles Final: Michael Llodra, FRA, def. Jarkko Nieminen, FIN, 6-3, 6-4
Official Web site: http://www.brisbaneinternational.com.au/

Top story lines:
1. Which player will be crowned the champion at the inaugural tournament being held at the new $82 million Queensland Tennis Center in Brisbane?
2. 2008 Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are entered in Brisbane, who has the better chance of winning the title?
3. Does defending champion Michael Llodra have enough guts to grind out another title “Down Under”?

Justin’s notable first round match-ups:
1. No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. Ernests Gulbis (Djokovic leads 2-0; winning in straight sets at Roland Garros and at the Masters Series Cincinnati; Last season, Djokovic won the Australian Open, Masters Series Indian Wells and Rome and the Tennis Masters Cup; Djokovic finished last season with a 64-17 record, which included noteworthy victories over Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Nalbandian, Nikolay Davydenko, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Juan Martin Del Potro; Djokovic is currently ranked No. 3; Gulbis finished 2008 with a 24-22 record, including reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and at the Masters Series Cincinnati; Gulbis is currently ranked No. 53)

2. No. 6 Mardy Fish vs. Jurgen Melzer (Melzer leads 2-1; winning their only hard court meeting in three sets in France in 2006; Fish recorded a 32-23 record in 2008, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Masters Series Indian Wells, which included victories over Nikolay Davydenko, Lleyton Hewitt, David Nalbandian and Roger Federer; Fish also reached the finals in New Haven and was a quarterfinalist at the US Open; Fish is currently ranked No. 24; Melzer finished last season with a 30-26 record, including a quarterfinal finish at the Beijing Olympics, as well as reaching the third round at three of the four grand slams; Melzer is currently ranked No. 34)

Potential notable late round match:
No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 5 Tomas Berdych, Quarterfinals
Djokovic leads 1-0, winning 7-5 6-1 at the 2008 Thailand Open in Bangkok
Both residents of Monte Carlo were able to claim singles titles, Djokovic winning four singles titles in 2008, while Berdych was the champion at the AIG Japan Open

No. 2 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. No. 7 Richard Gasquet, Quarterfinals
Series tied 2-2, with Tsonga winning at last year’s Australian Open in the fourth round in four sets
In 2008, Tsonga won singles titles at the Masters Series Paris and Thailand Open

Watch out for…
1. No. 3 Fernando Verdasco (Winner in Umag; runner-up in Nottingham; semifinalist in Bastad, New Haven and St. Petersburg; finished in the year-end Top 20 for the first time in his career by winning a career-best 46 matches; currently ranked No. 16)
2. No. 4 Robin Soderling (Winner in Lyon; runner-up in Memphis, Rotterdam and Stockholm; won a personal-best 45 matches in 2008, while defeating five Top 10 players, including James Blake, Gilles Simon and twice against Andy Roddick; currently ranked No. 17

Champion prediction:
Justin: No. 2 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga