The tennis season has well and truly begun in style if not a little wet from all the rain! Titles have already be won and predictions have already been made as to who will be the big winners of 2011 on the ATP Tour. Next week sees the first Grand Slam event of the year take place in Melbourne, The Australian Open. So who are the contenders for the title down-under? Lets have a look!
Roger Federer has won this event 4 times in the last 7 years. His record in Melbourne is second to none - He is an Australian Open legend, infact just a tennis legend, probably the best player there has ever been. Federer defeated Britains Andy Murray in the final last year in straight sets and I think the Swiss ace could easily win his fifth title in two weeks time, but it maybe Nadal he plays in the final instead of Murray. Federer started 2011 with a tournament win in Doha and is in fine form already. He obviously loves the hardcourts in Melbourne and he is definately my pick to win.
Rafa Nadal won the tournament in 2009, defeating Federer in 5 sets. The Spaniard is the world number one at the moment winning the last 3 Grand Slams of 2010. If he wins in Australia in a few weeks time, Nadal will hold all 4 Grand Slam titles at the same time, a phenomenal achievement. Nadal had a suprise loss to Nikolay Davydenko in the semi finals in Doha last week and I feel he could be under a little pressure coming into the tournament. He will have a lot of support in Australia and it will be interesting to see how well he plays in the early rounds to how he will be able to cope with the likes of Federer later on. He certainly could make the final.
Novak Djokovic could have a big 2011. I think the Serbian is ready to win another Grand Slam having won this title in 2008. He reached the final in Flushing Meadows in 2010 and is capable of winning against both of the top two seeds. Novak has all the game skills to win here, but maybe the expectation could be the downfall of the young Serb. I think he is one of the best value australian open tips in the tournament and could well earn some punters a nice windfall if he wins. No doubt Novak is a big threat.
The only other two players that i would expect to challenge for the title are fourth seed Robin Soderling and fifth seed Andy Murray. Swede Soderling has really built himself into one of the most threatening and powerful players on the ATP tour. The tall player has reached the French Open final in both 2009 and 2010, but is by no means a clay court specialist. He is a threat on all surfaces and is in good form already in 2011 with a tournament victory in Brisbane just last weekend. The only worry with Robin is if he can actually battle against a Federer or a Nadal over possible 5 set matches. I think he lacks this experience and he may lose focus. Soderling though likes to suprise people and maybe Melbourne could be the place to suprise again. As for Andy Murray, he continues to have the weight of expectation put on his shoulders from the British public. He reached the final last year with some brilliant shot making and powerful tennis. He defeated a injury hit Nadal in the quarters and them came back well against Cilic in the semis, finding Federer too strong in the final. He has decided to have a quiet start to the year and play only Hopman Cup tennis. He will go into the Australian Open fresh and ready to go one further than last year. He has a good head to head record against Roger Federer but still needs to beat the Swiss Ace at a Grand Slam event.
I beleive it will be difficult for anyone to defeat Roger Federer again this year. The most likely other contender for me would be Novak Djokovic, who is also better value in the betting. The Australian Open though is known for creating a few suprise finalists in recent years such as Marcos Baghdatis and Fernando Gonzalez, so watch this space for all the upsets, match previews and tennis predictions over the coming weeks.
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