Time for another exciting season of tennis topics starring myself, Anri, voltch and uh...other people. carv usually shows up for the Australian Open, I think.
Anyway, the draw is to be released at 10am in Australia, which is about 2 and a half hours from now, I think. The big story this year is that instead of being well-rested, everyone's injured going into the first major of the year! How exciting. Time for the new talent to step it up.
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FF fans don't hang around the internet on a monday morning they are out doing shopping or asleep hungover from parties. They got lives. -The_Djoker
Welp, at least Roddick didn't get stuck in Federer's division. The top half of this division seems pretty clear cut, I don't see anyone here that can really pose a threat to Djokovic unless he's just way, way off. The bottom half is pretty interesting. A potential second round between Hewitt and Roddick, then Raonic in the third. Raonic is coming off a nice win in one of the warm-up tournaments, and seems poised to have a breakthrough year, while it's tough to have much faith in Hewitt or Roddick these days.
Division 1: Djokovic > Raonic
Division 2
9 J Tipsarevic D Tursunov
Q WC J Duckworth
M Youzhny Q
A Seppi 17 R Gasquet
27 JI Chela M Russell
I Kunitsyn P Andújar
M Bachinger R Sweeting
R Machado 5 D Ferrer
Man is this division weak. Ferrer is probably the only one who can actually win this division, with Tipsarevic and Gasquet having an outside shot. I suppose Youzhny could have a real longshot at it. Tipsarevic had a pretty good tail end of the year last year, and had a decent start this year, losing to Raonic in the finals of his warmup, so I'll give him the edge over Gasquet and Youzhny. I don't really see any of them beating Ferrer, though.
Division 2: Ferrer > Tipsarevic
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FF fans don't hang around the internet on a monday morning they are out doing shopping or asleep hungover from parties. They got lives. -The_Djoker
Murray once again gets a pretty easy division. People will hype up Harrison as a cute first round upset pick, but he's probably even more of a headcase than Murray is, and not as good at tennis. Murray might lose a set in that match, but that's about it. Bottom half should probably go to Monfils, with hopefully a great rematch in round 3 against Ferrero, and I think I like Ferrero to win that one again as well. Still, Murray should be safe from danger until the quarterfinals.
Division 3: Murray > Ferrero
The rest isn't filled out on Wikipedia yet and I don't like the drawsheet from the official site so more later.
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FF fans don't hang around the internet on a monday morning they are out doing shopping or asleep hungover from parties. They got lives. -The_Djoker
I was confused when I saw "Q" because I realized later it was for qualifiers but at first I thought Q from Star Trek was playing in the Australian Open.
This division probably belongs to the French. I'm not that huge on Simon, really, but I don't think Nishikori is ready to step it up at a Slam (and don't think he ever will be, Brad Gilbert be damned). Bottom half is just a big pile of whatever + Tsonga. Hopefully Tsonga stays healthy, because if he does I think it could be his year.
Division 4: Tsonga > Simon
so cookie cutter
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FF fans don't hang around the internet on a monday morning they are out doing shopping or asleep hungover from parties. They got lives. -The_Djoker
Time for better analysis. I have highlighted the winners
Division 1
1 N Djokovic P Lorenzi
Djokovic won 48 out of 49 matches last year (I think), he is fairly unstoppable right now. I dont know who this Lorenzi is, but he'll lose in straight sets in probably an hour and a half max.
S Giraldo Q
Dont know who the qualifier will be but I've seen Giraldo play before and he can handle himself pretty well, im sure whatever he'll come up against he can beat.
WC T Ito P Starace
I have never heard of Ito... So this could be proved wrong. Starace really isn't that great anymore/ever was, but he usually gets through the first round...
N Mahut 29 R Štepánek
Going for an upset here just because I don't really rate Stepanek and Mahut is one of the better unseeded players by far. Hasn't been playing THAT great of late, but his playing style has the potential to upset Stepanek.
23 M Raonic F Volandri
Raonic is pretty damn good. Volandri kind of isn't.
L Rosol P Petzschner
Never heard of Rosol. Petzshcner is a solid player and should win this with ease.
C-M Stebe L Hewitt
Never heard of Stebe. Hewitt is on home turf, and although he has the tendency to crash and burn, this match SHOULD be a walk in the park, especially with the crowd support.
R Haase 15 A Roddick
This will be a tough match for Roddick as Haase is by no means a pushover. As long as his serve is going well for ihm though, he SHOULD win this. Probably in 4 sets.
Overall
Djokoic wins the division... Probably over the winner of Hewitt/Roddick.
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~C~ - NIO BUNNY - http://img.imgcake.com/nio/76ayvpngam.png A Hot Dog will make you a fatty, a SuperNiceDog will make you a GURU!
I LOVE Tipsarevic. Really good player and on good form currently. Tursunov is no pushover though and I can see it going to 5 sets, but Tipsy will win.
Q WC J Duckworth
No idea who this guy is, but what a GREAT name.
M Youzhny Q
Youzhny is class. Qualifier wont have a chance.
A Seppi 17 R Gasquet
Definately not in his prime anymore is old Richard Gasquet, but should disperse of Seppi easily enough.
27 JI Chela M Russell
Not a great hard court player is Chela, so there could be a potential upset here... If I knew who Russell was.
I Kunitsyn P Andújar
Kunitsyn is a solid player. Other guy sounds Spanish/South American maybe? Meaning hard court probably isn't his best surface.
M Bachinger R Sweeting
Only vaguely heard of Sweeting... So I'll go with him
R Machado 5 D Ferrer
David Ferrer isn't known for his awesome hard court play, but he should win this first round match up with ease.
Overall
Tipsarevic should take it, because I don't believe Ferrer is stronger than him on a hard court surface. I'm actually gonna go out on a limb and say Tipsarevic > Kunitsyn. But man is this part of the draw weak.
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~C~ - NIO BUNNY - http://img.imgcake.com/nio/76ayvpngam.png A Hot Dog will make you a fatty, a SuperNiceDog will make you a GURU!
A new coach and supposedly a renewed vigor for the game, Murray is one to watch this tournament. All he needs is to be injury free, to keep his cool, and to somehow beat Djokovic. Then he'll probably lose in the final...
X Malisse É Roger-Vasselin
Xavier Malisse is getting on a bit these days, but he can still produce some good tennis. I dont really know about Roger-Vasselin so i'll say Malisse takes it.
M Llodra E Gulbis
This is a VERY interesting match up, and I'd say both are very evenly matched. I'll say Llodra but to be honest I don't have a clue. I'll say 5 sets though.
32 A Bogomolov, Jr. D Gimeno-Traver
A hit and miss player from Russia. Has improved a lot of late though and is a current career high ranking. Should be an easy first round match for him.
19 V Troicki JC Ferrero
As much as I love Juan Carlose Ferrero, he is past it now. Troicki SHOULD win this, but Ferrero does occasionly pop up with a performance that rolls back the years.
G García-López M Kukushkin
Kukushkin has only played in the Australian Open once before and lost in the 1st Round. Garcia Lopez reached the 3rd Round last year and should win this comfortably.
T Bellucci D Sela
Don't know much about either of these two personally, but I have seen Sela play before and he looks pretty good... So yeh.
WC M Matosevic 14 G Monfils
Monfils wins easily. Straight Sets.
Overall
Murray/Monfils in the finals... I'll have to say Murray, but it'll be a damn good game.
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~C~ - NIO BUNNY - http://img.imgcake.com/nio/76ayvpngam.png A Hot Dog will make you a fatty, a SuperNiceDog will make you a GURU!
Fish had a pretty great year in 2011 all things considered, but I don't think he's going to be able to keep up that pace in 2012. There's a number of potential of landmines in the top half of this division that make me worry. Del Potro, on the other hand, I think will be back in full force this year. I think Fish should be able to tackle the top half if he plays consistently, but regardless who actually does make it there, del Potro beats.
Division 5: del Potro > Fish
Division 6
13 Ukraine A Dolgopolov WC Australia G Jones
Germany T Kamke Romania V Hănescu
WC France K de Schepper United States S Querrey
Australia B Tomic 22 Spain F Verdasco
31 Austria J Melzer Croatia I Karlović
Argentina C Berlocq Q TBD
France É Prodon Germany A Beck
Q TBD 3 Switzerland R Federer
Look at all that young talent in the top half. And hey Querrey's finally back. Dolgopolov seems to be a lot more promising of a prospect than Tomic. Once upon a time I would have taken Verdasco to get through the top half of the division, but he hasn't played well in a while. He's certainly capable of making it to the fourth round against Federer, but Dolgopolov seems more likely. Also look for Karlovic to give Federer a run for his money in round 3.
Division 6: Federer > Dolgopolov
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FF fans don't hang around the internet on a monday morning they are out doing shopping or asleep hungover from parties. They got lives. -The_Djoker
The most up in the air division of the tournament IMO. I've never thought Berdych was all that great, and he could potentially lose to plenty of people here. The issue is that anyone could feasibly lose to anyone else in this division. I could see Baghdatis going on a bit of a run, and uh...let's throw one out there for voltch.
Division 7: Baghdatis > Anderson
Division 8
16 United States J Isner WC Australia B Mitchell
Finland J Nieminen Argentina D Nalbandian
Italy F Cipolla Russia N Davydenko
Argentina L Mayer 18 Spain F López
28 Croatia I Ljubicic Q TBD
Q TBD United States D Young
PR Germany T Haas Q TBD
Q TBD 2 Spain R Nadal
Isner is so wildly inconsistent, I could see doing anything from losing in the first round to beating Nadal. As long as Nadal stays healthy, he shouldn't have too much a problem, but unfortunately that's something that's always in question. As for Isner, I'll give him until the third round before he blows it.
Division 8: Nadal > Lopez
-- I'm no longer a Nadal supporter. Andy Murray is my new favorite player/person. -Princess Anri
As long as Djokovic is on point, I can't see him really falling before the semis this year. Ferrer can go on good runs once in a while, but on hard court he can't really match up to Djokovic when he's playing well.
Tsonga > Murray
Good news and bad news for Murray fans. The good news is you won't have to see him lose in a third straight Australian Open final this year. The bad news is he won't even make it that far.
Federer > del Potro
I am calling this one as the match of the tournament. Expect a replay of the 2009 US Open finals, but with Federer coming out on top this time. It'll be a tough loss for del Potro for sure, but this is the kind of match he needs to really get back in the swing of things.
Nadal > Baghdatis
Uh yeah, whoever makes it out of Division 7 gets destroyed.
Djokovic > Tsonga
This should be a fun match to watch, and I do think Tsonga has a better than you'd think chance of winning it, but it's hard to not side with Djokovic when he's gotten it done a number of times previously.
Nadal > Federer
Will Federer finally beat Nadal in a Slam? Nope.
Djokovic > Nadal
Will Nadal finally beat Djokovic in a final? Nope.
Not going to bother touching the women's bracket. I'll just say that I think Azarenka wins over Kvitova in the finals.
-- I'm no longer a Nadal supporter. Andy Murray is my new favorite player/person. -Princess Anri
Nadull has a crap draw. He won't get past 3rd round, he's not even fully fit and has retired last 2 Aussie opens. Indoor hardcourts just isn't his surface. Plus he's playing big hitters who he struggles against. Poor Nadalina.
Tomic won the third set, but yeah, he should have won the second set. I don't expect any of the Australians to do much (as an aussie myself), Tomic was probably the one with the best shot of getting far.
I find it interesting that even with four countries involved, Great Britain still can't even win a set. Although Murray should break that pattern. That is, if he has a better attitude than he did in the early matches in Brisbane anyway where he was complaining after nearly every point he didn't win.
Out of interest, why do England/Scotland etc compete as Great Britain in some sports and separate countries in others? Never understood that.