10SBALLS LOOKS OVER THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS DRAW STRAIGHT FROM THE ROD LAVER ARENA IN MELBOURNE

Written by: Staff on 14th January 2016

10SBALLS LOOKS OVER THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS DRAW STRAIGHT FROM THE ROD LAVER ARENA IN MELBOURNE

epa05102512 Australian Open reigning champions Serena Williams (left) of the United States and Novak Djokovic of Serbia pose for a photograph at the official draw of the 2016 Australian Open Tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 15 January 2016. EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Waltzing Matilda – Global Chick checks in for the Draw

Greetings – Global Chick here, back after jaunts around Australia! Saw a kangaroo or two. Spotted a koala, and… experienced the whole Four Seasons In One Day they always sing about in Melbourne! From summer to winter!

Arrived just in time for the draw, and like all true colonials, I decided to lay siege to a desk…

But for now, let’s busy ourselves looking at the important news of the day… THE DRAWS!

Men’s Draw

Defending champion Novak Djokovic has Roger Federer in his side of the draw, and actually has an interesting start against one of the ATP young guns Hyeon Chung. His potential third round foe is Federer’s R32 conqueror last year, Andreas Seppi.

Big serving Ivo Karlovic and crafty Gilles Simon make up the rest of the seeds in that quarter.

His potential quarter-final opponents see a few names old and new. His first adversary for his first Slam Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will hope to be fully fit having started the year with an arm injury, and do not discount another Frenchman with flair, Benoit Paire, who made some noise along with his best mate Stan Wawrinka out in Chennai. For a while now many have thought Paire could have the talent to make a breakthrough – could this be where it happens? But of course odds on for the quarter-finals is Kei Nishikori. After what looked like a promising start in Brisbane, Nishikori seemed to fizzle out, but declared that for the first tournament of the season he was happy. So far from ‘Generation Next’ he (and Marin Cilic) are the only ones to crack the strangle hold on the Slams behind the Big Five.

Onto the redoubtable Mr. Federer. Once more he looks to face Grigor Dimitrov on Aussie soil, and if he is over his cold, and if his performance against him in Brisbane was anything to go by, we should see him end the Bulgarian’s quest in the third round. You have to feel for Dominic Thiem – he got completely trounced by Federer in Brisbane, and could well wind up facing him in the fourth round, but actually our money is on David Goffin. Again, is it time for the young (and even younger looking) Belgian to have a surge?

Vying for a spot in that quarter-final will be Tomas Berdych, Nick Kyrgios, Roberto Bautista Agut and Marin Cilic. The Croatian looks to be coming into form nicely, and Berdych is, as ever, consistent, but what of Kyrgios? From Hopman Cup hero to Kooyong whiner, Kyrgios is never far away from the headlines. Logic says that Berdych will just be too much for the home hope to handle.

Let’s flip the page – Rafael Nadal is back (no really, Doha final aside), but what a start for him with fellow countryman Fernando Verdasco. Once upon a time he conceivably owned his compatriots but not any more, and this could be a great R1 match up.

Spanish player Rafael Nadal serves during a practice session with British player Andy Murray ahead of the Australian Open Tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 15 January 2016. EPA/JULIAN SMITH

Meanwhile in the other part of the quarter- Brisbane’s man of the moment Milos Raonic looks good in his little section of the bracket with Viktor Troicki as his probable third round opponent but lurking at the end of that quarter is Stan Wawrinka.

And what of impending fatherhood and Andy Murray? The Brit starts with another ATP up and comer Alexander Zverev, who he defeated quote handily in the Hopman Cup. We predict a steady run to the quarters, probably dispatching either Fabio Fognini or an in-form Bernard Tomic on the way, where he could face David Ferrer in the quarter-final. That could be a bruising encounter.

Predicted Semi-finalists: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray

Women’s Draw

Onwards, dear fans, and on to the women, and all eyes will be on Serena Williams and her inflamed knee. She said, in the draw preamble that all was good, but she has a difficult start against Camila Giorgi who has been putting in the time in the opening tournaments. Our match to savour will be another meeting between Williams and her BFF, Caroline Wozniacki. A couple of summers ago, it was refreshing to see the Dane come back to something of a resurgence, but can we use the “disappointing” word for Season 2015?

Maria Sharapova of Russia during a practice session in preparation for the Australian Open at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, 13 January 2016. The Australian Open Tennis Championship runs from 18 to 31 January 2016. EPA/DAVID CROSLING

Of course the quarter-final we all want to savour is another Maria Sharapova/Serena Williams showdown, but in the Russian’s way is not only the seemingly ever present injuries, but also useful Swiss teenager, Belinda Bencic.

Is time running out for Agnieszka Radwanska to make a meaningful Slam run? Her win at the Singapore WTA Finals would suggest not, and with Sharapova and Williams coming in with injuries, this could be the time for the Magician to pull out a few tricks. She leap-frogged Sharapova in the seedings with her Shenzhen win, and withdrew from Sydney so may be a little fresher in the legs. With Sam Stosur as her third round opponent, she may count on the fact that the Aussie seems to be completely crippled at her home Slam.

She does need to look out for Sloane Stephens and Roberta Vinci in the bottom of that quarter – both have proved they have the chops to go deep and battle on in the depths of a bracket and with Stephens also having hardware this year already – it is actually going to be a great battle for the honour of potentially facing Williams.

There are some fearsome names in the rest of the half. Carla Suarez Navarro has been playing very solidly and could face Andrea Petkovic in the third round, and on paper Petra Kvitova should round out this half, but only if she has gotten over the illness that ruled her out of both warm-up tournaments.

Angelique Kerber must just long for the day when two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka gets back up higher in the rankings. Why? Because the German is odds on to face the Brisbane champion again as a potential quarter-finalist.

But lo, what yonder Garbine Muguruza breaks (… or some such Shakespearean phrasing). Muguruza is likely to face the in-form Belarusian in the fourth round, and that is one match-up worth watching.

Meanwhile Venus Williams heads up the fourth and final quarter, and actually could have a clear run to the quarter-finals but Karolina Pliskova is making all the right moves these days and we could expect a big power-hitting fourth round there too. Gosh, this half of the draw is as tasty as the Honey Soy Chicken crisps I am becoming addicted too since being out here!

Madison Keys will want to try and regain some of that breakout form she showed last year, and with an out of sorts Ana Ivanovic in the third round, we would pick her to certainly line up for a potential fourth round match up with No. 2 seed Simona Halep. It was a massive disappointment when the Romanian withdrew from Brisbane before striking a fluffy yellow ball, but despite a long running Achilles issue, she has been making a good fist of it (weather permitting) in Sydney, and if she feels fit, this could be the start of a great run for her.

Predicted semi-finalists: Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep

Now all we need is for these clouds over Melbourne to puff away, some good but not blistering weather (although the lovely people in the media centre have made sure we’re stacked with Factor 30 in our goodie bags).

There is an air of excitement now. Colleagues greeting each other, draw analysis being discussed in the coffee bar, where I have already made the acquaintance of the barista who will keep me going for the next 14 days.

Let the first Slam of the year begin!

Topics: 10sballs, 2016 Australian Open, Agnieszka Radwanska, Andrea Petkovic, Andreas Seppi, Andy Murray, Angelique Kerber, Atp World Tour, AusOpen 2016, Benoit Paire, Fernando Verdasco, Garbine Muguruza, Gilles Simon, global chick, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Ivo Karlovic, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Madison Keys, Maria Sharapova, Melbourne tennis, milos raonic, Novak Djokovic, Petra Kvitova, Roberta Vinci, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens, Sports, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Wta