Australian Open 2014: Understanding the finer points of the men's singles draw
Novak Djokovic is the favourite to win his fourth straight Australian Open title this year.
The five ATP events leading up to the Australian Open this year threw up quite a few movers and shakers. There were some solid performances by the old guard, the ones whom we had almost forgotten, there were a few shaky demonstrations by ones on whom expectations were the most, and then there were a few surprises that caught us unaware.
There is an added sense of expectancy with the stakes having been raised by the recent reshuffling of coaching responsibilities in the teams of key players, including two of the ‘Big Four’. The doors of possibilities in the Australian Open draw have thus been thrown wide open despite the imbalance and unevenness, favouring certain players over the rest which in turn leads to quite an intriguing breakdown of the 2014 Australian Open draw.
Top Half
First Quarter
If Rafa wins the Australian Open this year, he will be the first player since Rod Laver to have completed the Grand Slam victory twice.
The two biggest names that headline this quarter are Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro. Between them are the likes of Bernard Tomic, Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov – the new-gen talent, so to speak. And interspersed among these are threats in the form of Lleyton Hewitt, Kei Nishikori, Benoit Paire and Gael Monfils.
By no means an easy quarter this; each successive match in this quarter seems to take the level of difficulty higher, not unlike a video game with ascending levels of toughness. Top seed Nadal will take on Australian hopes and Sydney runner-up Tomic with a possible third round match-up between his Doha final’s opponent, Monfils and a fourth round match-up against Brisbane winner, Hewitt.
On the other hand, the towering Argentine will face a qualifier in the first round and in all likelihood will face Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut in the second round. 27th seed Paire will be the most likely third round opponent for Del Potro with either 11th seed Raonic or 22nd seed Dimitrov to face against him in the pre-quarter finals.
Quarter-final Prediction: Rafael Nadal to win over Juan Martin Del Potro in four sets
Second Quarter
Making a comeback after injury, Andy Murray still remains a hot player in the Australian Open draw
The bottom quarter of the top half has an equally tricky outfield as the top quarter. It’s the quarter that contains three-time finalist Andy Murray and four-time Australian Open champion Roger Federer along with a few assorted names like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, John Isner and Marin Cilic. 18th seed Gilles Simon who also featured in this quarter became the latest player to withdraw from the event after sustaining an ankle injury. His place in the tournament is to be taken by fellow Frenchman Stephane Robert, who will be the ‘Lucky Loser’ making it into the main draw.
The still recuperating Andy Murray may have cautioned his fans about the expectations placed on him. But these cautions from his side haven’t really acted as a downer as far as his fans’ hopes are concerned. The Scot will take on Japanese No. 2 Go Soeda in his opening round before facing a qualifier in the second. Either 26th seed Feliciano Lopez or unseeded Michael Llodra could be Murray’s opponent in the third round, with 13th seed and Auckland winner Isner the most likely opponent to play against him in the fourth round.
The Swiss meanwhile, will open against Aussie James Duckworth in his first round with a possible second round match against Czech Radek Stephanek. Unseeded Sergiy Stakhovsky or 31st seed Fernando Verdasco could be Federer’s potential third-round opponent with Tsonga laying the final road-block for Federer at the start of the second week in the pre-quarters.
Quarter-final Prediction: Roger Federer to win over Andy Murray in five sets