Australian Open Predictions....

The 2010 Australian Open begins in only a couple hours, so I just want to take a little time and give my thoughts on what I think will happen.  Odds are the opposite of what I predict will happen, and I'll be completely wrong.  I wouldn't be the first time..

On the womens side Serena Williams will defeat Elena Dementieva to win for the 2nd straight year....Alona Bondarenko will be the darkhorse of the tournament, making it to the semifinals... The other semifinalist will be Caroline Wozniacki....Kim Clijsters coming off her U.S. Open victory will be a quarterfinalist, as will Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, and Venus Williams.... Dinara Safina's struggles will continue with a defeat in the 2nd round to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.... Justin Henin's comeback will stall when she loses to Dementieva in the 2nd round.... Ana Ivanovic will show signs of her old self in this tournament when she reaches the 4th round....Francesca Schiavone and Alisa Kleybanova will be the only seeded women to lose in the 1st round....All the previous things are sure to happen.  Its in the stars.

Semifinal and Final predictions by my girlfriend Katie and I:

Me

Semifinals- Serena over Wozniacki, and Dementieva over Alona Bondarenko

Final- Serena over Dementieva

Katie

Semivinals- Wozniacki over Serena, and Kuznetsova over Safina

Final- Wozniacki over Kuznetsova

Its pretty wide open on the mens side, but Andy Murray will win his first Grand Slam when he beats Novak Djokovic in the final....Roger Federer will continue his streak of semifinal appearances.  Roddick will also reach the semis......The hottest player on the tour at the moment Nikolay Davydenko will make it to the quarterfinals, as will U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, defending champion Rafael Nadal, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga....Juan Carlos Ferrero's ankle injury will be a deterrent, causing the #23 seed to lose in the 2nd round..... Richard Gasquet's resurgence will continue by making it to the 4th round....James Blake will actually win a 1st round match at a Grand Slam, but then lose in the 2nd round....Seeded players that will be 1st round casualties will be Juan Monaco and Mikhail Youzhny.

Katie and I's semifinal breakdowns

Me

Semifinals-  Djokovic over Federer, and Murray over Roddick

Final- Murray over Djokovic

Katie

Semifinals- Davydenko over Djokovic, and Del Potro over Murray

Final- Del Potro over Davydenko

*** Starting tomorrow I will have a breakdown of each day at the Australian Open. 

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Isner Wins First Career Title...Hobart, and Sydney Crown Champions.

"Big" John Isner of the United States won his first career tournament at the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand.  Isner had to fight off veteran Frenchman, Arnaud Clement 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 to claim his first career title.  Isner who has made steady progress since his run at the U.S. Open where he beat Andy Roddick to reach the round of 16.  Isner is scheduled to face Andreas Seppi of Italy in the first round of the Australian Open.

Marcos Baghdatis is showing his old form that made him once a top 10 player and Grand Slam threat.  Baghdatis won the Medibank International Sydney in Sydney, Australia.  Beating Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-6. Baghdatis starts by Australian Open facing Paolo Lorenzi in the 1st round with a possible matchup with #17 seed David Ferrer in the 2nd round.

"Flying Bondarenko Sister" Alona defeated Shahar Peer 6-2, 6-4 to take the Moorilla Hobart International title in Hobart, Australia.  The #4 seed Bondarenko now has momentum going into the first Grand Slam event of the new year.  Alona will face Kathirin Woerle of Germany in the first round of the Australian Open, with a possible matchup with Jelena Jankovic in the 3rd round.

Dementieva defeats Serena in Sydney...Finals matchups for Auckland, Hobart, and men in Sydney.

Elena Dementieva defeated a "gimped out" Serena Williams easily 6-3, 6-2 to defend the title she won last year in Sydney, Australia.  Williams came into the match with her left knee wrapped up, and showing it was in bothersome pain.  This is no surpise, since this is probably an excuse to just cruise and not do her best.  Serena is the type of player that doesn't really care about tournaments other than Grand Slams or the ones that will pay out the big money.  So with the Australian Open just a few days away, why would she expel a lot of energy?  So she didn't, and used a "faux" knee injury as a way to not give 100% and not be called out on it.  She'll be out riding the waves in Sydney probably today with her boyfriend/musician Common.  And I do use the word "musician" loosely.  So there is my conspiracy theory, take it or leave it....oh, congrats to Elena.

The mens final is set.  Richard Gasquet and Marcos Baghdatis will play for the championship.  Gasquet is playing well after coming off his short suspension for allegedly having traces of cocaine in his system for making out with skanks at a club.  Baghdatis is also making a comeback of his own from multiple injuries that has hindered him for the past year and a half.  Baghdatis had to defeat some solid players to get to the final.  He was tested by Viktor Troicki, Lleyton Hewitt, and defeated Mardy Fish in a tough semifinal match that went 3 sets and had two sets end in tiebreakers.  My guess is that Baghdatis' fitness isn't totally there coming off all his injuries and will come up just a tad short to Gasquet who will win his first tournament in over 2 years.

The finals matchup of the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand is a bit of a surprise.  American, "Big" John Isner will face off against Arnaud Clement of France.  Both players are unseeded and defeated 3 seeds in order to get to the final.  Isner's road to the final went through #8 seed Juan Monaco, #1 seed Tommy Robredo, and #8 seed Albert Montanes.  While Clement had to defeat #2 seed, David Ferrer, #6 seed Jurgen Melzer, and #5 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber.  Both men are playing really well.  The final will come down to an issue of fitness, and I believe that Isner being the bigger guy isn't as fit as the veteran Clement.  Plus watching a little bit of Clement's matches the last couple of days, he looks to be in good form so I believe Clement comes out the winner.

In Hobart, Australia the "Flying Bondarenko sister", named Alona will go against "The fork"  Shahar Peer for the Moorilla Hobart International title.  Ever since putting "the fork" into Peer she has put her game up a notch, making me eat my words and look wrong.  Flip a coin on this one, either one of these women can win this match.  But I'm actually leaning to the side of Peer.....So Alona will probably win.

Australian Open Draw released.

The Draws have been released for next weeks Australian Open.  The qualifying rounds are still on-going, but here are the early draws:

Australian Open Draws

Update on This Week's Tournaments.

This week one of the men's tournaments is the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand.  A few of the notable players playing in this tournament are Tommy Robredo, David Ferrer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Nicolas Almagro, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Jurgen Melzer.  A few upsets happened in the early rounds.  Both Ferrer and Ferrero lost in their 2nd round matches. #4 seed  Nicolas Almagro also lost in his 2nd round matchup.  Proving to be not a good week for the Spaniards in the land of Kiwis. 

The quarterfinals have been set, so here are they are:

Tommy Robredo  vs.  John Isner

Michael Lammer  vs.  Albert Montanes

Philipp Kohlschreiber  vs.  Marc Gicquel

Jurgen Melzer  vs.  Arnaud Clement

Looking at the matchups I like Robredo, Montanes, Kolhschreiber, and Melzer to all advance.  With Robredo and Kohlschreiber meeting in the finals with an upset win for Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.

The Medibank International Sydney tournament in Sydney, Australia is an event featuring both the men and the women.  The mens field is weak after the pullout of #1 seed Gael Monfils with a shoulder strain, but where the men are lacking in star-power the women more than made up for it with a great group of players, playing in Sydney.

On the mens side the top mens players playing this week are:  Tomas Berdych, Lleyton Hewitt, Sam Querrey, Marcos Baghdatis, Mardy Fish, Richard Gasquet, Viktor Troicki, and Igor Andreev.

The mens quarterfinals look like this:

Potito Starace  vs.  Richard Gasquet

Julien Benneteau  vs.  Leonardo Mayer

Marcos Baghdatis  vs.  Lleyton Hewitt

Mardy Fish  vs.  Peter Luczak

Look for an All-French semifinal with a Gasquet and Benneteau matchup.  In the bottom half of the bracket I like Hewitt advancing to play Mardy Fish in the other semifinal, with Hewitt beating Gasquet in the final.

On the womens side of the Medibank International Sydney its stacked with great players participating this week.  Some of the big names in action are:  Serena Williams, Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva, Victoria Azarenka, Jelena Jankovic, Vera Zvonareva, Dominika Cibulkova, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Flavia Pennetta.

The women have reached the semifinal stage of this weeks tournament.  Here are the matchups:

Serena Williams  vs.  Arevane Rezai

Victoria Azarenka  vs.  Elena Dementieva

Serena should smash Rezai and get to the final easily.  Azarenka has been struggling to beat all her opponents so far this week, so I like Dementieva to pull out a tough 3 setter to reach the final.  In typical Williams fashion she will show up uninterested in the final and Dementieva will defend her championship.

The Moorilla Hobart International is a smaller WTA tournament taking place in Hobart, Australia.  It doesn't have the big names like in Sydney, but instead has a competitive field of players that are all ranked around the same.  The number 1 seed of this event is #27 ranked Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain, while the #8 seed is #36 ranked Gisela Dulko of Argentina.  So all the seeded players are in the late 20's-early 30's ranking area making a good week of competitive tennis.  Calling a winner in this wide open tournament is tough.

Here are the quarterfinal matchups in Hobart:

Anabel Medina Garrigues  vs.  Gisela Dulko

Alona Bondarenko  vs.  Jie Zheng

Kristen Flipkens  vs.  Sara Errani

Carla Suarez Navarro  vs.  Shahar Peer

I like an upset with Dulko knocking off the top seed to reach the semifinal where she will meet Jie Zheng of China.  In the bottom half I like the Italian Sara Errani to move on and meet Shahar Peer who has been playing inspired tennis since getting "the fork" a few weeks ago.  Look for Zheng and Peer to meet in the final with Zheng edging out a tough match to win the title.....But I would not be surprised if any of these 8 ladies win this tournament.  They are all equally talented so any scenario could go down.

Injury Bug is Already Biting...and a Suspension.

Gael Monfils was forced out of this weeks tournament in Sydney, Australia due to a shoulder injury.  The injury is serious enough to put his participation in next weeks Australian Open in jeopardy.  Monfils said he will wait until the middle of this week to test the shoulder in hope of playing in the Aussie Open.  "I'm trying to stay positive on my participation for the Australian Open"  The Frenchman said.

David Nalbandian had to delay his comeback to the tour, after missing most of last year with a hip injury that needed surgery.  This time it was an abdominal strain that put Nalbandian on the shelf, and did not let him participate in this weeks event in Auckland, New Zealand.

"Williams killer" Justine Henin also is suffering from an injury that has forced her to miss this weeks WTA tournament in Sydney, Australia.  Henin suffered a strain in the upper part of the back of one of her legs (basically she pulled an ass muscle).

24 year old Russian, Ekaterina Bychkova has been fined $5000 and given a 30 day suspension for not reporting that she was asked to fix matches and provide inside information.  An anti-corruption officer said there is no evidence Bychkova accepted any compensation.  The reason for receiving the fine and suspension was because she did not bring up the offers until she was questioned about it. 

Bychkova is the 121st ranked woman and has never been past the 2nd round of a Grand Slam event.  So I ask this, why would someone ask Bychkova to fix matches?  She cannot even win, when she is trying to win....just makes no sense to me.

Gasquet and Tsonga want to party all the time, party all the time....

Gasquet and Tsonga partying with some Romanian strippers.

The most shocking of all this is that there are Romanian women who don't look like yaks or are gymansts.

Also, no word on if Tsonga and Gasquet played any "mixed doubles" later that night.

Roddick and Cilic win tight thrillers to claim titles..

Andy Roddick upended Radek Stepanek's reign at the Brisbane International in Brisbane, Australia.  Roddick needed two tiebreakers to become victorious in straight sets. 7-6, 7-6.  Roddick had troubles with Berdych in the semifinals and also had a difficult time with Stepanek in the final.  Two players who are good, but shouldn't push Roddick like he was pushed.  Looks like he may not be in top form right now, just a week before the start of the Aussie Open.

Marin Cilic also needed two tiebreakers to be victorious in Chennai, India on Sunday.  Defeating  Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-6, 7-6 to become only the 2nd back-to-back champion of this event.

Auckland, Doha, and Brisbane Crown Champions..

Yanina Wickmayer came out like a ball of fire in the final of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.  Flavia Pennetta was unfortunately on the receiving end of the beating in the final.  The Belgian took control early and didn't let up, taking the championship 6-3, 6-2.....It is not known if Wickmayer was "roided" out for this tournament or not....allegedly, possibly, but doubtful.

In a battle between two comeback Belgians, Kim Clijsters took the title in Brisbane, Australia, defeating Justine Henin in a long, tough match 6-3, 4-6, 7-6.  Both women will be huge factors when the Australian Open begins in little over a week.

The Qatar Open in Doha, Qatar crowned the first mens tournament winner of the new year.  In the final Rafael Nadal faced Nikolay Davydenko in this years final.  Davydenko had to defeat Roger Federer, while Nadal made easy work of Viktor Troicki to make it to the finals.

In the first set Nadal stormed out and didn't look back taking the first set easily over Davydenko 6-0.  In the 2nd set Davydenko finally settled in and found his feet.  Grinding out a tough 2nd set and fighting off 2 match points for Nadal.  Davydenko takes the 2nd set 7-6 in a tiebreaker.  Nadal in the 3rd set takes the early lead after a break of serve and leads the final set 3-1.  Its looking as if Nadal will cruise to a victory, as Davydenko looks at his foot and grimaces in pain....Well not so fast, Davydenko wins the next 3 games and takes a 4-3 lead and puts the match back on serve.  Nadal then holds evening the match 4-4.  Davydenko barely holds serve, Nadal had his chances to break here, but its 5-4 Davydenko on-serve.  Davydenko in the next game breaks Nadal to secure the championship 0-6, 7-6, 6-4.  Beating Federer and Nadal on consecutive days, along with his year-end title makes Davydenko one of the favorites for the Australian Open.

There are still a couple tournaments still going.  Both mens finals in Chennai, India and Brisbane, Australia have yet to be played.  Both will be played either today or tomorrow (depending on where you live).  Here are the final matchups:

The mens final in Brisbane, Australia, Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, the defending champion will defend his title against Andy Roddick of the United States.....Unfortunately I think Roddick will take this match.

In Chennai, India defending champion Marin Cilic goes against Stanislas Wawrinka in the final.... I like Cilic to defend his title in a close match.