Ahhh, a little more than 5 hours away until start of play. And even though the first couple of rounds tend to be on the dull side on the show courts I still find myself excited for another Slam getting underway.
There are plenty of ATP and WTA stars on display today including, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, Andy Murray, Dinara Safina, Andy Roddick, Juan Martin Del Potro, Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic and Fernando Gonzalez. I don't see any of them losing. In fact, if you are a ticket holder on Rod Laver Arena you are probably in for a pretty quick day.
The last match on Laver finds Aussie darling Jelena Dokic taking on #27 Alisa Kleybanova. The crowd will certainly be a factor in this one - they cheered Jelena on to the quarterfinals last year. Lightning strikes twice? Look for the upset.
There are a couple of interesting matches to keep an eye on today.
On Court 3 Fabrice Santoro is playing in his 70th Slam. He'll take on #14 Marin Cilic. YAWN. The tennis world gets to say goodbye to him all over again. He'll be back in France tomorrow.
First-on on Court 6 is #13 Radek Stepanek taking on Ivo Karlovic. Never in a million years would I actually watch this match but it's an interesting encounter all the same. Stepanek has won all three meetings but looking at the scores they have played close with 6 tiebreaks among the sets. Could go either way.
Also on Court 6 is Arnuad Clement against James Blake. With James fading of late and Arnaud getting to the Auckland final two days ago Arnaud might just get his first win in their 8th meeting. I'll take Arnaud. (Literally - ha!)
Two young American's play cagey tour veterans today. #25 Sam Querrey takes on the 2000 Aussie finalist Rainer Schuettler. They have never played and I doubt Sam is too worried about Rainer - he's about 50 now. #33 John Isner has a more dangerous match against Andreas Seppi. This is their first meeting but Isner might be very tired having won the title in Auckland just 2 days ago. I'm smelling an upset here.
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