Draw:
[1] MONFILS, Gael FRA v BYE
STARACE, Potito ITA v Q
LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP v GASQUET, Richard FRA
Q v [8] BECKER, Benjamin GER
WAWRINKA, Stanislas [3] v BYE
BENNETEAU, Julien FRA v SELA, Dudi ISR
LLODRA, Michael FRA v CUEVAS, Pablo URU
Q v [7] ANDREEV, Igor RUS
[6] TROICKI, Viktor SRB v SERRA, Florent FRA
LINDAHL, Nick AUS v BAGHDATIS, Marcos CYP
Q v SEPPI, Andreas ITA
BYE v [4] HEWITT, Lleyton AUS
[5] QUERREY, Sam USA v KOROLEV, Evgeny RUS
BALL, Carsten AUS v FISH, Mardy USA
LUCZAK, Peter AUS v ACASUSO, Jose ARG
BYE v [2] BERDYCH, Tomas CZE
As is always the case, the women’s tournament takes centre stage in Sydney whilst the men’s draw doesn’t look quite so appealing. If this doesn’t say it all I don’t know what will, Gael Monfils is the tournament’s top seed...
Lleyton Hewitt will be hoping his body holds up and he’ll probably be thankful his ranking was high enough to give him a bye through to the second round. It is likely he’ll then face Andreas Seppi who he should account for pretty comfortably, although nothing seems to be easy for Lleyton these days. I actually think Lleyton has a terrific draw here and if he’s playing near his best he should at the very least reach a Semi Final. Young Aussie Nick Lindahl faces a stern test first up when he runs into Marcos Baghdatis; how the Cypriot responds after an embarrassing loss to Berdych in Brisbane will be interesting to observe. Petre Luczak faces Jose Acasuso and I’ll give him a fair chance to progress and in doing so would set up an encounter with 2nd seed Tomas Berdych. Carsten Ball faces Mardy Fish, tough but certainly winnable if he plays his best.
Talented ball striking will be on offer when Gasquet faces Lopez, a nice first round match. The entire bracket from Wawrinka to Andreev is extremely weak and both should advance to face each other in the Quarters. I’m desperately hoping Sam Querrey can rebound after a tough first match back after a long layoff following a serious arm injury. The one thing he needs more than anything is match practice so he really needs to win at least one match to give him some momentum and confidence heading to Melbourne. He faces the dangerous Korolev first up who on his day can blast opponents off the court.
If Berdych can carry over his form from Brisbane it’s hard not to see him winning this title. In saying that, does he even want to make it deep? If so it would effectively mean 4 weeks straight if he intends to play in the second week of the Australian Open. I’ve got the feeling he’ll fall to Querrey in the QF’s. Hewitt’s draw should make him a real threat here but there’s always concerns over his health and now is no different. Monfils is a joke and entirely unpredictable (before his predictable dummy spit) so unsure what he’ll offer up this week. I’m going to be a bit bold and say Hewitt to defeat Gasquet in the final. Coverage starts tomorrow on Channel 7. Interesting to note that those with Foxtel, Eurosport will be showing at least one women’s SF live so keep an eye on their broadcasting of this tournament.
[1] MONFILS, Gael FRA v BYE
STARACE, Potito ITA v Q
LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP v GASQUET, Richard FRA
Q v [8] BECKER, Benjamin GER
WAWRINKA, Stanislas [3] v BYE
BENNETEAU, Julien FRA v SELA, Dudi ISR
LLODRA, Michael FRA v CUEVAS, Pablo URU
Q v [7] ANDREEV, Igor RUS
[6] TROICKI, Viktor SRB v SERRA, Florent FRA
LINDAHL, Nick AUS v BAGHDATIS, Marcos CYP
Q v SEPPI, Andreas ITA
BYE v [4] HEWITT, Lleyton AUS
[5] QUERREY, Sam USA v KOROLEV, Evgeny RUS
BALL, Carsten AUS v FISH, Mardy USA
LUCZAK, Peter AUS v ACASUSO, Jose ARG
BYE v [2] BERDYCH, Tomas CZE
As is always the case, the women’s tournament takes centre stage in Sydney whilst the men’s draw doesn’t look quite so appealing. If this doesn’t say it all I don’t know what will, Gael Monfils is the tournament’s top seed...
Lleyton Hewitt will be hoping his body holds up and he’ll probably be thankful his ranking was high enough to give him a bye through to the second round. It is likely he’ll then face Andreas Seppi who he should account for pretty comfortably, although nothing seems to be easy for Lleyton these days. I actually think Lleyton has a terrific draw here and if he’s playing near his best he should at the very least reach a Semi Final. Young Aussie Nick Lindahl faces a stern test first up when he runs into Marcos Baghdatis; how the Cypriot responds after an embarrassing loss to Berdych in Brisbane will be interesting to observe. Petre Luczak faces Jose Acasuso and I’ll give him a fair chance to progress and in doing so would set up an encounter with 2nd seed Tomas Berdych. Carsten Ball faces Mardy Fish, tough but certainly winnable if he plays his best.
Talented ball striking will be on offer when Gasquet faces Lopez, a nice first round match. The entire bracket from Wawrinka to Andreev is extremely weak and both should advance to face each other in the Quarters. I’m desperately hoping Sam Querrey can rebound after a tough first match back after a long layoff following a serious arm injury. The one thing he needs more than anything is match practice so he really needs to win at least one match to give him some momentum and confidence heading to Melbourne. He faces the dangerous Korolev first up who on his day can blast opponents off the court.
If Berdych can carry over his form from Brisbane it’s hard not to see him winning this title. In saying that, does he even want to make it deep? If so it would effectively mean 4 weeks straight if he intends to play in the second week of the Australian Open. I’ve got the feeling he’ll fall to Querrey in the QF’s. Hewitt’s draw should make him a real threat here but there’s always concerns over his health and now is no different. Monfils is a joke and entirely unpredictable (before his predictable dummy spit) so unsure what he’ll offer up this week. I’m going to be a bit bold and say Hewitt to defeat Gasquet in the final. Coverage starts tomorrow on Channel 7. Interesting to note that those with Foxtel, Eurosport will be showing at least one women’s SF live so keep an eye on their broadcasting of this tournament.
