AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2006: Preview

The Australian Open draw was released today Friday the 13th. Defending champions are Serena Williams and Marat Safin. The current seed lists are available. Here is my preview of this year's Australian Open.

(1) Lindsay Davenport. Last year's finalist is seeded #1 for the second consecutive year, playing for her first Grand Slam title since the 2000 Australian Open. She is in a tough section of the draw, with three other previous Grand Slam champs Svetlana Kuznetsova, Justine Henin-Hardenne, and Venus Williams in the same quarter of the draw. If she gets through all of those hard-hitters her reward is either Serena or Sharapova.
(2) Kim Clijsters. After facing a sudden injury scare and pulling out of the warm-up tournament in Sydney last week, the winner of the previous Grand Slam is looking at the easier half of the draw, with a possible showdown with the resurgent Miss Mary Pierce in the quarterfinal and possibly Amelie Mauresmo in the semifinal.
(3) Amelie Mauresmo. Has she finally had her breakthrough year with her win of the WTA Tour championship over her compatriot at the end of last season? It's not clear. She lost her first match of the year to a player who will be giving a lot of Top 10 players trouble this year, the pulchritudinous Ana Ivanovic.
(4) Maria Sharapova. She has a beautiful draw, with only defending champion Serena Williams a possible bump on the road in the 4th round(!). Last year, those two met in the best match of the tournament (and one of the best women's matches all year) in the semifinals.
(5) Mary Pierce. Which of the French femme fatales will be higher ranked at the end of the year? I'm not sure I would count out, the older, wiser player. I think their AO results will be indicative of how the year goes, since both Frenchwomen have played well in Australia in the past.
(6) Nadia Petrova. Has never really done well at the Grand Slams, but since the elimination of quality points effective from ranking calculations January 1 2006, she has soared to #6.
(7) Patty Schnyder. The crafty leftie has never made much of a splash down-under but is also playing her best and approaching her career-best ranking. Will probably be roadkill in the half of the draw chock full of ex-grand grand slam champions.
(8) Justine Henin-Hardenne. After coming back from a set and 1-4 down against soon-to-be-Top 10 Francesca Schiavone to win the Sydney International, the 2004 AO champion may be getting ready to make some noise. But can her body really last for the full two weeks through the previously mentioned "draw of death"? I doubt it.
(9) Elena Dementieva. If she has a serve, there's no reason this amazing athlete shouldn't make another Grand Slam final this year, though Australia is unlikely to be the venue.
(10)Venus Williams. It is unlikely she is really ready for this tournament, and the Williams sisters in general do not play well in Australia.

BLACK TENNIS REPORT
Defending champion (13)Serena Williams is in Sharapova's section of the draw, and has a tough first round opponent in Na Li followed by a possible matchup with (17)Daniela Hantuchova in the third round and Sharapova in the 4th. If she gets through those she should have no problem reaching the semifinal against whoever gets through the "draw of death" top quarter.

Shenay Perry has a tough first round match against (21)Ana Ivanovic. Jamea Jackson has a first round against a qualifier. Mashona Washington plays Jelena Kostanic and should get through that.

James Blake came back from a break down in the third set to win his fourth title of his career, and his 3rd in the last 6 months. He beat Igor Andreev 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3) in the final of the Sydney International, the warm-up before the Australian Open. Blake has usually played well at the AO and will hopefully better his 2005 US Open results.