With the 2011 Australian Open underway, I must acknowledge how much richer my life is when tennis is in the spotlight. A mere two weeks into the new year, Grand Slam tennis is in full swing. And it only took two days for me to fall in love with the game all over again.
I've never attended the Aussie Open in person, and each year when the tournament begins, I'm forced to deal with the disappointment that I've missed it again. Solace comes in the form of ESPN2 (with a little help from ESPN3 and the Tennis Channel). Twelve hours of coverage a day makes it easy to feel absorbed in the tournament, even if I'm not physically there to soak it in. I thoroughly enjoy the ESPN team commentating on the men's game -- Chris Fowler, Patrick McEnroe, Darren Cahill, and Brad Gilbert. Of course, I wish Patrick's big brother John joined the gang on a daily basis, but you can't have everything. Above and beyond the statistics and the breakdowns, it's their contagious love and appreciation of the sport that enhances my enjoyment of the television coverage. Dick Enberg brings his elder statesman enthusiasm to the proceedings, Cliff Drysdale classes up the joint, and Tom Rinaldi digs up some great information around the grounds. All in all, it's the next best thing to being there.
For the second year in a row, I filled out a bracket before the tournament started. As much as I wanted to go out on a limb and pick an underdog, I got to the end of my prognostications and realized I had picked the number one seed on each side to win. Rafael Nadal has won the last three majors in a row, and no one would be shocked to see him take his fourth consecutive Slam. However, Caroline Wozniacki is a little less obvious choice.
Though Woz is seeded first, she has yet to win a Grand Slam title. With Serena still recovering from injury and physically unable to defend her title, the women's draw seems to be wide open. Vera Zvonareva is the number two seed and has been knocking on the door of the last few majors. She could win it. But she may have to get by Australia's own Samantha Stosur in the quarters to even have a shot. Stosur reached the finals of the French Open last year and keeps getting better and better. She could also win it. Most of the commentators on ESPN, if not all, picked Kim Clijsters to win. Justin Henin is in the mix. Sharapova is lurking in the draw. And, of course, Venus Williams will be a factor. With so many players holding a realistic chance to take the title, and no Serena, it's difficult to predict a winner. My gut tells me to go with the pretty blonde Dane, Caroline Wozniacki, and lest I suffer the consequences, I listen very carefully to what my gut is saying.
The men's side is much more straight forward. The top five is on a separate plane from the rest of the field. One of those men will win the tournament. Nadal is the clear number one right now, but Roger Federer is still playing fantastic tennis and is a serious threat to win his fifth Australian Open trophy to go with his six Wimbledons, five U.S. Opens, and a French. Novak Djokovic is a very hot player right now, coming off a U.S. Open final and dramatic Davis Cup victory, a first for Serbia. He's won this tourney once before for his one and only major. He could do it again. Big-swinging Swede Robin Soderling is now the number four player in the world and is definitely a threat, but he'll most likely have to get through Jo-Willy Tsonga and Andy Murray just to get a shot at Nadal in the semis. The five seed, Andy Murray, probably has a better shot to win his first Slam. He took out Nadal in Melbourne last year, though Nadal wasn't all the way back from injury yet. Murray has much less pressure on him in Australia than he does at Wimbledon, which could allow him to fly under the radar until the quarters. He's got the game to do it, but can he keep his wits about him for seven rounds? There are some other players out there who could also make some noise -- Tsonga, Fernando Verdasco, Tomas Berdych, Andy Roddick, Gael Monfils -- but I don't think the guys on that tier can put together enough upsets to go all the way. The gauntlet formed by that top five is just too damn tough to get through. I'm picking Rafa to complete what Patrick McEnroe is calling the Straight Slam, meaning all four majors in a row regardless of the calendar year.
Vamos, Rafa!
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