Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Australian Open 2014 - Round 2

Besides Sharapova Vs Mattek-Sands all Round 1 matches are complete so what's it shaping out to be?

We didn't get to see much of Nadal but I trust he is in good enough form to see off potential third round opponent Gael Monfils and Nishikori. Both are great talents but are not consistent enough to tackle Nadal in the long run. Nishikori was also pushed to 5 by an in-form Marinko Matosevic.

Del Potro and Raonic both took four sets to dispatch of their first round opponents. Both will be decent competitors for Nadal in the quarterfinals but they'll need to perform better to overcome the No.1 seed. Young stars Dimitrov and Benoit Paire are also in this draw as well as Australian teen Nick Kyrgios.

Murray looked in fine form as he dispatched of Go Soeda. With Isner retired there are no threats to Murray for the early stages of the draw. Lopez will bring the strongest challenge however Murray should win comfortably enough.

It is on this side of the draw where we'll see some interesting action. Tsonga has an uphill battle as third round could see him against fellow Frenchmen Gilles Simon or Marin Cilic. Federer will also be waiting at the other end. This tough draw will prove the most interesting in terms of who Murray's quarterfinals opponent will be.

Berdych should be safe for the early rounds. On the other side is the stalwart Ferrer who has some threats to contend with in the name of Youzhny, Janowicz, Chardy and the unpredictable Dolgopolov. All of these players have a great opportunity of making the semifinals.

Wawrinka and Gasquet will have to tough it out to see who gets to face Djokovic. But in Gasquet's way will be two veterans Davydenko and Robredo. Whilst there are some dangers in Djokovic's draw if he is to take his fifth Australian title they shouldn't be problems at all.


On the women's side Serena continues to look in fine form. She has a few big names in her side of the draw that should be feeling rather threatened namely Daniela Hantuchova, Samantha Stosur and Ana Ivanovic.

However after that Serena's fourth round opponent looks more up in the air with both the top seeds Errani/Vinci gone it's anyone's game down there with Zheng, Flipkens and Goerges looking to capitalise on the gap.

Na Li also started off her campaign well and should see herself safely through to the quarterfinals with Lisicki being her greatest challenge though she is still inconsistent outside of grass.

Kerber leads the charge on this section. She is slowly becoming a consistent player so I can't imagine many on this section posing a threat besides Flavia Pennetta.

It looks almost inevitable that it will be a Jankovic/Halep Round 4 in this section. They are both playing well and there aren't that many dangers in their draw. On the other side should be Sharapova despite coming back from injury unless Cibulkova has anything to say about that.

The final section sees the quarter of the young starlets Radwanska/Wozniacki Stephens/Azarenka. Besides those names there are also a slew of young potentials within this draw.

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