Anne intends to watch plenty of TV action from Melbourne Park and hopes for some forehand inspiration from Juan Martin del Potro
So, the draw’s out down under for the first Grand Slam of the season and what are my thoughts…?
The women’s draw definitely looks exciting, all the top players are there and there are plenty of other girls ready to give them a good run for their money. I think we can definitely expect to see some quality tennis right from the first round to the final.
Going in to a Grand Slam, I think Serena Williams is always the top favourite. She’s an incredible competitor when fit and her record at Slams compared to the others says it all. I don’t think we’ll be seeing her against Venus in the semis though, Venus hasn’t performed her best in Australia the last few years and I don’t expect to see that changing this year, in fact I think she might have trouble getting past her first round opponent, the tricky lefty, Lucie Safarova. Caroline Wozniacki is a very consistent and smart match player so I’m sure we’ll see her out rally everyone else in that quarter unless someone has the tournament of their life.
Dementieva, Clijsters, Henin and Wickmayer are all in the same third quarter which is unfortunate because they’re all capable of making it through in other quarters but that’s great for the viewers. I would love to see Clijsters and Henin battle it out after that great match they played against each other in Brisbane a few weeks ago, such quality tennis.
Maria Sharapova is my third favourite for the title behind Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters. She hasn’t played any tournaments leading up to the Australian Open and instead played a few exhibition events but I think she’s well prepared and fully recovered from her shoulder injury now. I’ll also be interested to see how Dinara Safina plays in her opening match against the talented Magdalen Rybarikova. Rybarikova can be quite flashy and dangerous and not the easiest player to play against on her day.
Sabine Lisciki, Aravane Rezai and Victoria Azarenka are a few other names to look out for who I reckon are capable of the odd shock win.
In the men’s draw, Roger Federer has got to be the favourite at a Grand Slam. Nicolay Davydenko is my favourite player to watch in men’s tennis (as well as Nadal), his timing for such a slight man is unbelievable and he’s been the in-form player the last few months although his record at Slams isn’t the best. I would love to see him do well, purely because it seems like one of the few things in life that would make him smile more often.
Andy Murray being seeded five has put him in the same quarter as Rafael Nadel but they both have tough matches to get through before they even get to that stage so it’s important not to think too far ahead. Hopefully, Andy’s preparation this year playing in the Hopman Cup instead of Dubai and missing the Kooyong Classic exhibition event will have helped him acclimatise better and he’s feeling fresh and ready to go.
You can never underestimate former winner, Novak Djokovic and also Fernando Verdasco who had a great run last year. Juan Martin Del-Potro is carrying an injury but let’s hope it’s not too bad because I want to see him scream a lot of forehand winners past his opponents for me to admire and attempt in my practice sessions!
In a Grand Slam, anything is possible and there are no guarantees for anyone. Although I’m not there competing myself this year, I’ll be watching as much of it as possible on TV because like you, I’m also a big tennis geek!
