The first grand slam of the year starts on Monday, January 19 2009.

Nadal, the top seed has been drawn with Murray. Federer, the second seed is in the bottom half as the defending champ, Novak Djokovic.

Will we see a new grand slam winner?

Who do you think will win the title?

This is Murray's best chance at a slam. Nadal always starts the season slow so i dont fancy him for this. Federer is another who will be looking to win this badly, Djokovic is not the same anymore.
Lleyton Hewitt and Richard Gasquet? Those two are just one of many making up the numbers, Lleyton can never win another slam and Gasquet will go down as one of the greatest tennis disappointments.

davidylan:

-Nadal always starts the season slow so i dont fancy him for this

-Djokovic is not the same anymore

-Lleyton can never win another slam

-Gasquet will go down as one of the greatest tennis disappointments

  Kai! see prophet of doom     

  For purely sentimental reasons, I'm going with Federer to pick up #14. The express needs to regain some of its lost steam 

Federer needs to win this but somehow I think his evergreen season is over. I think Nadal will win this. Federer is like that old veteran who has a chance but then at the last minute Nadal snatches it away.

who picked Tsonga?
Its not likely the guy will even play at all.

Roddick through to round two in straight sets . . . the AO has kicked off another exciting tennis season.

Early prediction - Ana Ivanovic wont get beyond the QFs and she'll be out of the top 10 by the end of the yr.

I hope Th Federer express wins it

I'd like Murray to win it.He seems overdue for a title.
But it's looking ominously like Federer might win it.
Nadal doesn't play consistently well on Hardcourt.
And the trend seems to dictate there will be a surprise element in the men's draw.

The female side is not straightforward.
Serena Williams seems to up her game her especially when she's been written off.
And Venus is always a threat with her power.
Jankovic,Ivanovic can all win as well.
Then the Russians:Dementieva,Safina.
I want Jankovic to win because she's yet to win a major as World No.1.

Men's Draw:

Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Christophe Rochus (BEL)     
Florent Serra (FRA) vs. Roko Karanubic (CRO)
Eduardo Schwank (ARG) vs. Tommy Haas (GER)
Flavio Cipolla (ITA) vs. Dimitry Tursunov (RUS)
Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs. Diego Junqueira (ARG)
Vincent Spadea (USA) vs. Denis Istomin (UZB)
Guillermo Canas (ARG) vs. Nicolas Kiefer (GER)
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)
Gaël Monfils (FRA) vs. Martin Vassallo Arguello (ARG)
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) vs. Stefan Koubek (AUT)
Andrey Golubev (KAZ) vs. Fabio Fognini (ITA)
Nicolas Massu (CHI) vs. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)
Ivo Karlovic (CRO) vs. Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)
Wayne Odesnik (USA) vs. Mario Ancic (CRO)
Chris Guccione (AUS) vs. Nicolas Devilder (FRA)
Pablo Andujar (ESP) vs. Gilles Simon (FRA)
Andrew Murray (GBR) vs. Andrei Pavel (ROU)
Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs. Marcel Granollers-Pujol (ESP)
Andreas Beck (GER) vs. Colin Ebelthite (AUS)
Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs. Nicolas Lapentti (ECU)
Michael Berrer (GER) vs. Carsten Ball (AUS)
Sergii Stakhovsky (UKR) vs. Arnaud Clement (FRA)
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) vs. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
James Blake (USA) vs. Frank Dancevic (CAN)
Sebastien De Chaunac (FRA) vs. Steve Darcis (BEL)
Albert Montanes (ESP) vs. Ernests Gulbis (LAT)
Peter Polansky (CAN) vs. Igor Andreev (RUS)
Rainer Schüttler (GER) vs. Dudi Sela (ISR)
Victor Hanescu (ROU) vs. Jan Hernych (CZE)
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) vs. Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)
Juan Monaco (ARG) vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)

Andy Roddick (USA) vs. Bjorn Rehnquist (SWE)
Xavier Malisse (BEL) vs. Mickael Llodra (FRA)
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) vs. Fabrice Santoro (FRA)
Sam Querrey (USA) vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)
Tommy Robredo (ESP) vs. Bobby Reynolds (USA)
Alberto Martin (ESP) vs. Viktor Troicki (SRB)
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) vs. Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)   
Marc Gicquel (FRA) vs. David Pablo Nalbandian (ARG)
Robin Soderling (SWE) vs. Robert Kendrick (USA)
Julien Benneteau (FRA) vs. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
Simone Bolelli (ITA) vs. Kristof Vliegen (BEL)
Samuel Groth (AUS) vs. Mardy Fish (USA)
Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) vs. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
Taylor Dent (USA) vs. Amer Delic (USA)
Jérémie Chardy (FRA) vs. Marcos Daniel (BRA)
Andrea Stoppini (ITA) vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) vs. Mischa Zverev (GER)
Lamine Ouahab (ALG) vs. Florian Mayer (GER)
Potito Starace (ITA) vs. Bernard Tomic (AUS)
Gilles Muller (LUX) vs. Feliciano Lopez (ESP)
Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. Kevin Anderson (RSA)
Oscar Hernandez (ESP) vs. Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)
Dominik Hrbaty (SVK) vs. John Isner (USA)
Denis Gremelmayr (GER) vs. David Ferrer (ESP)
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) vs. Ivo Minar (CZE)
Björn Phau (GER) vs. Brydan Klein (AUS)
Brian Dabul (ARG) vs. Philipp Petzschner (GER)
Robby Ginepri (USA) vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE)
Marat Safin (RUS) vs. Ivan Navarro (ESP)
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs. Agustin Calleri (ARG)
Evgueni Korolev (RUS) vs. Carlos Moya (ESP)
Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs. Roger Federer (SUI)

Ivanovic is finished as a top player.

Hewitt got his ass kicked out of the Open today

That's the danger of being unseeded. Playing Gonzo in the first round is a huge task.

davidylan:

That's the danger of being unseeded. Playing Gonzo in the first round is a huge task.

Absolutely. I saw the draw yesterday and shook my head anticipating the worst for Hewitt, its just plain bad luck. Least he stretched it to 5 sets.

Those Capris look like he's in top form nuthin must stand in the way of Rogy's 14th oh!

Federer playing Safin should be mouth watering.

lets see how he avenge for the 05 defeat in the hands of Safin

Safin needs to win cos he is likely to retire after this tournament. It should be interesting.

Federer will thrash Safin in 3-straight sets

If this is indeed the end for Safin. . .

It would be a real shame.

So much potential unfulfilled. It is a crime on his part
he is isn't a top ten player. . . . scratch that. Its
a crime he isn't a top 4 player.

Murray is kinda having a slugfest in the first set

Well at least my pick Tsonga is still in it.if he continues to play with as much heart as he did against ljubicic.who knows, he might just upset the applecart. finger crossed.

why is the title of this thread Australian Open 2009 - Men

My Venus crashed out today, i didnt see the match but from what i read, i feel so sorry for her.
she had a match point! damn!
i hope Jelena wins this but the heat might prove to be her undoing.

@Bagoma, there's another thread for the ladies.

Australian Open 2009 - Women

FOD, thanks.
methinks a single thread would have worked just fine. thanks anyway. good job!

No, besides the Williams sisters there is practically no other reason to be interested in womens tennis at the moment. With jokes like Jankovic as world number 1 and Ivanovic who cant hit a ball to save her life ranked #5 . . . all we are left with are ball bashers.

Abeg the way the threads were set up is good. Tennis today is all about the men.

Men's tennis is gay jor.

The way they bend when they are receiving serves. . .
that's just wrong yo.

Can't be having that man.

Now with the women on the other hand, . . . .

@ David,
i only thought it would make the thread much more interesting if we could talk all about the australian open here, thats all.
what's with your dislike of Ana? at least she is pleasing to the eyes, she is just so fine.
True the women's tennis is a little bit on the downhill now.

@ Doyin, 
you no well o.

Jelena just got through to the fourth round with a win over Sugiyama 6-4, 6-4.
good!
the heat is not her friend at all.

Roddick against Santoro underway now.
Presently Roddick leading 2-0 i.e 6-3, 6-4. interesting match.
third set underway,

bagoma:

@ David,
i only thought it would make the thread much more interesting if we could talk all about the australian open here, thats all.
what's with your dislike of Ana? at least she is pleasing to the eyes, she is just so fine.
True the women's tennis is a little bit on the downhill now.

well she just got dumped out of the AO. We thank God.

davidylan:

Federer will thrash Safin in 3-straight sets

Abeg pls present me with my gift for an accurate prediction.

Some Third Round Results:

Federer - Safin 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 
Baghdatis - Fish 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 
Berdych - Wawrinka 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 
Roddick - Santoro 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 
Robredo - Lu 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 
Cilic - Ferrer 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 
Djokovic - Delic 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 
Del Potro - Muller 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, 7-5

Other Third Round Fixtures: (24 Jan)

Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Tommy Haas (GER)
Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)
Gaël Monfils (FRA) vs. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)
Mario Ancic (CRO) vs. Gilles Simon (FRA)
Andrew Murray (GBR) vs. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
James Blake (USA) vs. Igor Andreev (RUS)
Dudi Sela (ISR) vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)

ok, Federer is going to be up against Djokovic in the semis
only if Djokovic gets past baghdatis and Fed beats Berdych but i'm looking ahead already.
Certainly Fed will be in the Semi but not 100% certain of my serb friend.

would love to see the defending champ play Fed again and
I'm willing to bet Federer is taking that one quite as easily as he did Safin's!
anyone wanna bet?

Djokovic shld dispatch Baggi with ease.

Nadal vs Haas is probably the pick of the bunch

A-40:

Nadal vs Haas is probably the pick of the bunch

this is the match i'm staying up to see . . . Nadal shld finish Haas in straight sets.