I'm really excited about this tournament as it's like a mini Grand Slam on the ATP side. So frustrated though as the draws were released so late - I couldn't change my fantasy tennis team!
Nadal is obviously the top seed here, Dmitry Tursunov could be his first seeded opponent. His 4th round opponent is less obvious; Tomas Berdych, Mikhail Youzhny and David Nalbandian are all stuffed into this part of the draw young venom Victor Troicki could also do some damage. However all in all Nadal should plough on through.
Monfils could have to play Marat Safin (hopefully!) whilst Del Potro has an Ok draw in my point of view - though his recent form may mean an early defeat so I'm going to bet on a Nadal/Monfils quaterfinal.
Novak Djokovic (who seems to have lost his touch) is 3rd seed. In his section of the draw he could have an early German opponent in the name of Rainer Schuttler or Tommy Haas, he also has the in form Radek Stepanek on his side. If he manages to get past that draw he could see Andy Roddick who besides David Ferrer and Mardy Fish I don't see anyone else who could shock him.
Gilles Simon and Mario Ancic could meet in the third round whilst on Tsonga (a possible 4th round opponent for either of them) could have to take on Ernest Gulbis or Jose Acasuso, both quite tough when on good form. Murray, who is the top seed in this part of the draw will have an easy road to the 4th round (though injury woes could sideline him). He could face Robredo or Cilic in the 4th round.
Nikolay Davydenko (he's still playing?) is the 5th seed, Richard Gasquet and Feliciano Lopez could face each other in the second round, whilst Fernando Verdasco is a likely opponent for the winner between those two. Federer who seems to have taken a month rest has Blake and Gonzalez in his draw - both much weaker than they were before. Lleyton Hewitt could cause a shock; though not to Federer I don't think.
In my opinion the draw is slightly top heavy but we'll see what happens as the tournament progresses.
On the womens side we have the severe loss of both the Williams' sisters which is a shame as they are undoubtedly the most in form players currently.
Anne Keothavong has been put in Dinara (the No.1 seeds) side of the draw which is a shame. I really don't want to mention her anymore but Nicole Vaidisova will play Michaella Krajicek in the first round, both were my favourites which I had so much hope for but both seems to have died! Jelena Dokic could cause a stir here. Victoria Azarenka is on the other side to Dinara's quarter and could face Marion Bartoli/Anna Chakvetadze/neither in my opinion! Sorana Cirstea could be a tough cookie to crack whilst I remember Elena Vesnina doing something special recently but I've forgotten that. Vera Zvonareva has the somewhat in form Iveta Benesova, who has replaced Nicole as the top Czech. Amelie Mauresmo and Patty Schnyder (the golden oldies as I like to call them nowadays!) are possibly headed towards each other, however Anna Lena Groenefeld and Na Li are stuck between the two. Svetlana Kuznetsova, who seems to have lost herself for the past year or so has Caroline Wozniacki/Kaia Kanepi and Carla Suarez Navarro as seeded players in her draw - all of which can be quite unpredictable.
Ana Ivanovic, who doesn't seem to be capable of removing her title as the "burnout queen", has Elena Dementieva; one of the most in form players of the past few months, in her draw. However on the way there are Gisela Dulko and FLAVIA Pennetta! Hope Flavia does well here, anyway besides Jie Zheng I think Elena has an easy draw as Daniela Hantuchova isn't in form (has she ever been in form for the past 2 years?)
Agnieszka Radwanska and Jelena Jankovic are on one side of the draw. There is an enslaught of young players in this draw who could threaten a place in the quaterfinals as well as a few experienced ones as well. Alize Cornet/Dominika Cibulkova and Sara Errani or obviously the ones to watch out for.
Hopefully this tournament will heat up the year as currently the tennis season isn't as interesting as years gone by, last year was an awful year in my opinion but at least it was interesting, with a few comebacks.
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