Australian Open - Men's Singles Preview

Ahead of the opening Grand Slam of the year, here is how I think the men’s draw will unfold…

Potential Winners

Novak Djokovic. Djokovic will be looking to get off to a great start as he did last year by defending his title. A player with very few weaknesses and immense mental strength, as proven last year, Djokovic is the man to beat in the men’s draw. He starts as the favourite for the title; he has not played much tennis yet this year so I will back him to start reasonably fresh in spite of the odd niggling injury he may still be carrying. Prediction: Men’s singles champion

Roger Federer. Federer will be looking to get back to his best this year. He arguably has a huge year ahead of him, having not won any grand slams last year he needs to prove to the critics and his fellow players that he still has the hunger and power to win grand slams. At times last year he was bullied off the court by Djokovic who appears to hold a slight mental edge over him. He is in the same half of the draw as Nadal, that semi-final encounter would be fascinating if both players get that far. Prediction: Runner up to Djokovic.

Rafael Nadal. Nadal appears to be struggling with injuries, having said that I think he is the best competitor on the tour. Doubts over his fitness must provide his opponents with some encouragement – he has already decided to take the whole February off due to his shoulder. I still think he will see off all challengers but I think playing Federer might be a bit too much for him, expect it to be close though. Prediction: Semi-final loss to Federer.

Andy Murray. Murray has a great chance at the first grand slam of the year, always going to be confident having reached the final in Melbourne the last two years, he has the additional advantage of having won a tournament already this year, seeing his opponents struggling with injuries and the advantage of a new coach in Ivan Lendl. What a fairytale it would be to see him win the first grand slam title of his career in his first grand slam being coached by Lendl. Sadly (from a British and Andy Murray point of view) he is in the same side of the draw as Novak Djokovic. When push comes to shove you have to back Djokovic in that encounter. If Djokovic is off his game even slightly expect Andy to take him to five sets. Prediction: semi-final loss to Djokovic.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Having already won a title this year and having already beaten Nadal, Tsonga will be feeling confident coming into the first grand slam event of the year. With a huge game, he can beat anyone on the big occasion, good touch at the net, huge ground strokes and a massive serve will make him very hard to beat. Whether he will bring his best game to the table along with the incredible mental strength needed to win a slam remains to be seen, if he can do this once at a grand slam this year: he will win that grand slam. Prediction: Murray to just edge him out in 5 sets in a quarter final meeting.

Darkhorses:

Juan Martin Del Potro. In the same quarter of the draw as Roger Federer, Del Potro is someone with the skill and mental strength to seriously worry Federer. If Federer has not hit top form by the time they are projected to meet in the quarter finals he could knock Federer out. Having already won a grand slam, beating Federer in the final and in the same half of the draw as Nadal who has questions over his fitness, Del Potro could really spring upset and reach the final. Definitely one to watch. Prediction: Federer to squeak through their quarterfinal encounter.

Milos Raonic – Due to play Djokovic in the fourth round if all goes to plan, this Candadian youngster did brilliantly last year to reach the fourth round. Expect at least a repeat performance. Having already won a title in Chennai this year he will be confident. He will give Djokovic a game but is hard to see him pulling off the coup of beating a holder of three grand slams so early in his career. Prediction: Fourth round loss to Djojovic.

Grigor Dimitriov. In a reasonable quarter of the draw with Nadal, this Wimbledon junior champion from 2008 has the potential to be a top ten player if not even higher. With an exciting game off both wings and a good draw he could give some of seeds in his quarter of the draw – Almagro and Wawrinka a run for their money. It will be fascinating to see if 2012 can be his breakthrough year. Prediction: Fourth round loss to Berdych.

Brit watch: James Ward. Ward has done fantastically well to qualify for the main draw of a grand slam on merit by going through three rounds of qualifying. This is a brilliant achievement for him. He will probably lose in the first round but to get through three rounds of qualifying is a success in itself. Hopefully he can take the confidence from this run here, win his first round match and improve his ranking considerably as a result. Great to see someone along with Andy Murray in the main draw and not courtesy of a wildcard. Prediction: First round loss.

Paul watch:

Marcos Baghdatis: Just one of my favourite players, great smile, great ground strokes, great potential that he has rarely lived up to. Could go on an inspired run to the final, more likely to lose early on in the tournament. Fellow Yorker writers Andy Pakes and Samuel Holloway know of my love of the man, I just had to mention him somewhere. I have my fingers crossed for everyone’s favourite Cypriot. Indeed Del Potro remarked after losing to him this week in Sydney "I don`t know where Cyprus is, if it`s close to Australia or not," "But many guys come to here to see his game and follow his tennis.” Clearly Del Potro is not as fond as geography as tennis fans are of Baghdatis. Prediction: will always draw large crowds but will come up short (again).

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