Quick Hits

By Mike McIntyre

Just a quick post to bring you up to speed on a few developments since the end of the Australian Open. The ATP and WTA Tours will now proceed with some smaller level tournaments on both hard and clay courts. March will showcase the two Masters Series hard-court tournaments in the United States before the official clay-court season is upon us and with it the road to the French Open in May. Until then, check back regularly for any exciting developments on the men's and women's game that you will not want to miss.

Lleyton Hewitt Injured:

Just when Lleyton Hewitt was rounding into top-twenty form, he has been hit by another injury. Hewitt had surgery on his right hip following his straight sets loss to Roger Federer in the fourth round in Melbourne. The injury was sustained during the Hopman Cup in January and is similar to the one on his left hip that kept him out of contention for much of 2008. Hewitt says he plans on coming back to the tour as quickly as he can and estimates that will be somewhere around the French Open.

For more info check out his official press conference transcript where he reported the news.

Ivan Lendl Exhibition:

Since retiring from the tour in 1994, Ivan Lendl has managed to stay away from playing any tennis exhibitions, instead choosing to focus on his golf game. That will change on April 10th as he plays former rival Mats Wilander at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The event will be called the Ceaser's Tennis Classic and will be the first in a new annual tradition. Some of the proceeds will be used to help the Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education group.

Also playing during the event will be Andy Roddick against recently retired Marat Safin. That's the same  Marat Safin who said we would never see him play in such exhibition events after his professional career ended.

David Nalbandian:

Speaking of hip surgery, after being out since May 2009 with an injury to his hip, David Nalbandian is looking ready to return to the tour on clay in Buenos Aires in two weeks. Nalbandian was aiming for a return at the Australian Open, but suffered an abdominal injury while practicing. While his ranking is officially 140th in the world, Nalbandian should have a higher protected ranking when he returns from his injury.

Ranking Movements:

The most noticeable change is Novak Djokovic overtaking Rafael Nadal as the number two player in the world. Nadal has dropped to the number four position after failing to defend the ranking points he earned winning in Australia a year ago. 

Youngster Marin Cilic moves up four spots into the tenth position after his first ever Grand Slam semi-final appearance in Melbourne. 

This Week on Tour:

In Chile we have the Movistar Open on clay with Fernando Gonzalez as the number one seed and Juan Monaco as the number two. Not too many other names worth noting at this one, except perhaps Jose Acasuso who is always a threat on clay.

Zagreb, Croatia hosts a hard court tournament with Marin Cilic as the top dog. Ivo Karlovic also lurks in the top-half of the draw, while veteran Ivan Ljubicic is the number two seed.

In Johannesburg, the SA Tennis Open is underway and showcases Gael Monfils and David Ferrer as the top two players. Aside from them the draw is quite sparse, so expect the two top-twenty players to meet each other in the final.

Men's 2010 Australian Open Preview

By Mike McIntyre

The first Grand Slam of 2010 is about to get started in Melbourne and with the draw announced we can now start to debate who will be crowned champion in two weeks time. Will it be someone from the usual suspects - a Federer or Nadal perhaps? Or will someone new like Fernando Verdasco or Andy Murray breakthrough and claim their first major? Let's take a look at who has a strong shot at the title and some of the potential dark-horses as well.

The Favorites:

Every Grand Slam begins by looking at world number one, Roger Federer, and rightly so. Having "only" won the Aussie Open three times, Federer has not had as much success at the start of the year as you might imagine. He is three years removed from his last victory in Melbourne and with the draw he has in 2010 I wouldn't expect Federer to be the last man standing. In fact, I think this is the Slam where his record of twenty-two straight Grand Slam semi-finals may finally come to an end. It has to at some point, right?

Who is the most likely man to take Federer out? Igor Andreev is hoping it might be him in the opening round, and Andreev is a tricky player who just might be up for to the task. The pair have only met twice before, but Andreev gave Federer a rough-go at the 2008 U.S. Open where he pushed him to five sets before losing 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Andreev is as inconsistent as they come, but has come up big in the past during high-stakes matches as he displayed in ending Rafael Nadal's streak on clay back in 2005. This is not a guy that Roger wants to face in his opening match.

Federer may also have to face either Marcos Baghdatis or Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth round, and potentially Fernando Verdasco or Nikolay Davydenko (who defeated him in Qatar two weeks ago) in the quarter-finals. Sure, Roger is still favored to make it deep in this tournament - but the potential for upset grows stronger each year.

Also in the top-half of the draw is third-seeded Novak Djokovic who has a nice section at this year's edition. The first seeded player he may face is little-known Jeremy Chardy of France in round three and the only true opposition I can foresee would be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals. Tsonga actually leads their career head-to-head by a 4-2 margin, but Djokovic won their last encounter on hard courts easily in 2009.

Djokovic has not chosen to play any ATP tournaments thus far in 2010 which is puzzling. Instead he showed up at the Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament where he beat an aging Tommy Haas and then went down to Verdasco 6-1, 6-2 in an apparently meek effort. To make the start of his season even more troubling, Djokovic then played a friendly match against Australian Bernard Tomic and was beaten 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. These are not your typical Djokovic results but makes one question his off-season preparation.

Despite these early upsets and the fact that Djokovic's frail physique is not meant for the brutal Aussie heat, he does have a good path in front of him to succeed. A couple of easy wins could boost his confidence and make him tap into the success he had here when he won his first and only Slam in 2008.

Fernando Veradsco is a player to watch and just came off a victory at Kooyong over Tsonga in the finals. Verdasco pushed Nadal to his limits at the Aussie Open in 2009 and came ever so close to defeating him before falling in the fifth set. His problem is that he usually does not trouble the top-fve and lost to all his matches at the season-ending championships in London to Federer, Del Potro and Murray in November.

The bottom-half of the draw contains some serious fire power with Andy Roddick, Juan Martin Del Potro, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal all lumped together. Picking one of those four players to make it to the finals is easier said than done - although it will without a doubt come from this talented pack of four. I would be shocked if anyone but these four made it to the quarter-finals in the bottom of the draw. I will be glued to my television for the expected Roddick/Del Potro and Murray/Nadal matches. 

Roddick already won his first tournament of 2010 by defeating Radek Stepanek in Brisbane. Looks like he is healthy and should breeze through the early round matches.

Del Potro has broken through the Grand Slam barrier with his win over Federer in New York last year. His confidence should be high, but it remains to be seen if he is prepared to challenge at the Slams on a regular basis. Success can affect people in different ways, so Del Potro will want to start the year off strong so that everyone knows he is for real.

Andy Murray is aware that it's time to show the world he is capable of winning a major. He set high hopes after making the finals at the U.S. Open in 2008, but his results at the Slams in 2009 left a lot to be desired. The talent is there with Murray, but we've yet to see the mental consistency on the big stage.

Finally, defending champion Rafael Nadal must also be mentioned - I mean, he did win the thing a year ago! With no titles in the past nine months and injuries that derailed his season in 2009, it is easy to forget about Nadal's potential impact on the game in Australia. Due to last year's circumstances, the pressure will not be very high for Nadal in Melbourne and he is a strong possibility to repeat as champion.

Anticipated First-Round Matches:

Mikhail Youzhny vs Richard Gasquet: These two have only met three times before, and you can ignore the results in that series. Youzhny defeated a sixteen year old Gasquet at this tournament in 2003, Gasquet won on hard-courts in 2005, and then Youzhny won a tight five-setter in 2007 on clay. Youzhny is the 20th seed, while Gasquet should be ranked higher if not for his suspension last year. A coin-toss that I'd give the edge to Gasquet based on recent results and a heck of a first round match to watch.

Marin Cilic vs Fabrice Santoro: Just when you thought the magician had retired he is coaxed back onto the court to become the only player to appear in four decades as a professional tennis player. This will also mark Santoro's 70th career Grand Slam. The 37 year old has been training hard in order to make this a competitive appearance, but don't expect him to defeat the 14th seeded Cilic. It will be their first career meeting and I'm sure the veteran will have some tricks up his sleeve that the young Croat has likely never seen before.

Radek Stepanek vs Ivo Karlovic: The 13th seeded Stepanek surely hoped for an easier starting match than big-serving Ivo Karlovic. This match will feature two completely-opposite styles of play and probably not too many lengthy rallies.

Darkhorses:

As I mentioned before, beware of Igor Andreev to give Federer a stern test in the first round. Qualifier Xavier Malisse could push through a few rounds and upset Nicolas Almagro in the opener as well.

Overall though, this does not look like a tournament where someone is going to surprise us and come from nowhere to make headlines. It is a strong field with a small cluster of top quality hard-court players. One of the regulars should be hoisting the trophy when the final Sunday comes around.

Around the Corner - Aussie Open Tune-ups Continue

By Mike McIntyre

With the Australian Open just a week away, many players are using this time to rest from tournament play and work on their game in practice only. You won't find Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray or Andy Roddick playing any real matches this week. All of those top-dogs have already notched several wins under their belts and are feeling confident heading towards the first Slam of the year.

For some players though, they have yet to gain enough time on the court and are looking to take advantage of some precious ranking points and prize money while the big guns rest up. This week there are two ATP tournaments and one exhibition tourney set to begin.

Heineken Open - Auckland, New Zealand:

Tommy Robredo is the number one seed in Auckland this year and is coming in with a big win off Andy Murray at the Hopman Cup last week. The Spaniard defeated Murray 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 to help lead Spain to victory. He has a first-round bye and may face big-serving John Isner in the quarter-finals.

The only other big name in the top half of the draw is veteran Juan Carlos Ferrero who will likely face a qualifier or two on his way to the later rounds. Ferrero is still kicking his tires on tour, but expectations are low even in a tournament of this scale.

In the bottom half Philipp Kohlschreiber has the not-so-enviable task of facing David Nalbandian in his return to tour action. Nalbandian has not played since May of 2009 due to injury but started his season a year ago with a victory in his first tournament of the year. It will be interesting to see what kind of shape Nalbandian is in and whether or not he can be considered a threat at the Aussie Open.

David Ferrer is the second seed in Auckland and has a fairly open section of the draw which should enable him to reach the semi-finals. The bottom half also welcomes Sebastien Grosjean back to the tour. The Frenchman had a record of 2-6 in 2009 as he too was plagued with injury problems.

Medibank International - Sydney, Australia

There will be a new champion in Sydney this year, as defending champion David Nalbandian is in Auckland instead. It's hard to figure out why the Argentine would make such a move, but he never really has been an easy one to figure out.

Gael Monfils is seeded number one and should advance to face Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals. It is surprising that Wawrinka is choosing to play in Sydney, since he already reached the finals in Chennai where he lost to Marin Cilic last week. I would not be surprised if Wawrinka drops out at the last minute to rest up for the Open.

Igor Andreev and Richard Gasquet are also in the top half of the draw and are capable of causing some damage. We're still waiting on Gasquet to deliver some results since returning from his shortened drug-related suspension from last season. 

Lleyton Hewitt, who has won here four times before, will represent the local hopes. Hewitt is eager to return to the top ten this year and with a higher ranking he should be seeded at most tournaments he enters in 2010.

Sam Querrey and Tomas Berdych are also in this section of the draw. Querrey lost in the first round last week in Brisbane, while Berdych made it to the semi-finals before falling to eventual champion Andy Roddick. 

Kooyong Classic - Melbourne, Australia

The annual Kooyong Classic exhibition normally attracts some big-name players and this year is no exception. Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro will both be in attendance, as will Fernando Gonzalez, Tommy Haas, Fernando Verdasco, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Robin Soderling.

While there will be no ranking points awarded here, the prize money must certainly be enticing and the players have the luxury of putting as much or as little effort as they see fit in the week before the Open. The draw will not be out until January 12th.

While players are eager for some more match play before the Aussie Open, it may be more of a burden for those who advance deep into the draws. Best-of-five-set matches are just around the corner and having some gas left in the tank is going to be a necessity for most.

Hewitt Returns to Form at Wimbledon

By Mike McIntyre

2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt is displaying strong grass-court form as he knocked off number five seed Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 to advance to the third round.

"Oh, it was a big win. I wanted to beat a top‑five guy," Hewitt stated after the match. "These are the places you want to do it, too."

Despite practicing together on numerous occasions, it was the first career meeting between the two and Hewitt used his experience to knock off the twenty year old Argentine who falls to 3-3 in his career at the All England Club.

Speaking about Del Potro's inexperience on grass, Hewitt said, "Yeah, he's an exceptional player, he's a very talented player, but he's still a little bit raw. I had to try and take advantage of that as much as possible."

Del Potro rated his own play as an 8/10 which may sound surprising given his straight sets loss, but he gave much credit to Hewitt's play after the match.

With a wide open top section of the draw, Hewitt should be able to advance to the quarter-finals where he will likely face American Andy Roddick. The absence of world number one Rafael Nadal has certainly provided a nice opportunity to advance deep into a Grand Slam for the first time in years for Hewitt. He last advanced to a Grand Slam quarter-final at the U.S Open in 2006.

Hewitt Press Conference Transcript

Del Potro Press Conference Transcript

Hewitt Taking His Time Choosing a New Coach

From The Herald Sun: Hewitt keeps options open

LLEYTON Hewitt hasn't ruled out hiring an overseas coach to help guide him back to the top.

Hewitt said it was important a new coach understood his needs, with nationality of secondary concern.

"I'm looking for the best person who suits me," he said.

"Australia is so far from the rest of the world and I prefer to live in Australia when I'm not playing."

Draper Won't Coach Hewitt

From the AAP: Golf first as Draper says no to Hewitt

LLEYTON Hewitt is in the market for yet another coach after Scott Draper's decision to pursue his golf career...

The former Davis Cup star said he had made the choice following lengthy discussions with his pregnant wife Jessica and Hewitt.

"I had a long chat on the phone with Lleyton and let him know that I'd decided to go with golf," said Draper.

Hewitt Gone

I wonder if Fernando Gonzalez is finally ready to do some serious Grand Slam damage.

From The Sydney Morning Herald: Hewitt crashes out to Gonzalez

A BAD day just got worse. This was already the most troubled Australian Open of recent years, blighted by excesses of heat, rain and crowd conduct. Last night on a subdued Rod Laver arena, the last two Australians, old favourites Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik, were unceremoniously dumped out of the tournament...

Hewitt Takes Five to Win

From The Herald Sun: Lleyton Hewitt keeps dream alive

LION-HEARTED Lleyton Hewitt clawed his way back from two sets down for only the third time in his career to keep his Australian Open dream alive at Melbourne Park last night.

Trailing by a service break early in the third set, match-starved Hewitt stood on the brink of an inglorious first-round defeat before rallying doggedly to a 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-3 6-3 triumph over American qualifier Michael Russell...

Woodbridge Says Hewitt Needs to Become an Adult

From The Australian: It's time Lleyton 'became an adult'

WHEN Lleyton Hewitt walks onto Rod Laver Arena tonight to begin his campaign against American Michael Russell, he will have a new coach in his corner, a new manager on his payroll and unprecedented criticism from a celebrated, Davis Cup team-mate ringing in his ears.

In a remarkably candid interview on Melbourne radio on the opening morning of this year's tournament, Todd Woodbridge yesterday urged Hewitt to become an adult, distance his father Glynn from his tennis affairs and start making the important decisions in his professional life that will decide whether he can again challenge the world's best players at major tournaments...

No chance for Lleyton?

Some interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes in this one.

From The Sydney Morning Herald: No coach, no serve, no matches...Lleyton's no hope

LLEYTON Hewitt is gone. Forget about him winning the Australian Open; he'll be lucky to make the second week. Having a big heart gets you only so far. Look at Nicole Pratt...

Fact: he hasn't played enough. The world No.19 is so starved of match play he's lost the crucial knack of running on automatic when he's under the pump. You can't brush the tour for most of the year, turn up to a major and expect to win it.