I know in the men's game, it's a bit easier to predict the champion in any of the Grand Slams since for the past few years, it's been either Nadal or Federer winning the championships. Nothing much changes this year, and I know I may be raining on Nadal's plan to get a career slam this year, but I think Roger Federer has a good chance of making it his fifth Australian Open title and seventeenth overall Grand Slam title. He has been performing well these past two months, winning both the ATP Tour Year-end championships last year and the Qatar Open about 2 weeks ago. He's definitely in very good form.
Now, let's take a closer look at the draw.
In the upper half, Nadal, Soderling, Murray and Ferrer are all in the mix. On paper, Nadal may have to deal with some pretty competent players like compatriots Feliciano Lopez and David Ferrer, as well as talented Croatian player, Marin Cilic. Andy Murray, last year's runner-up, may have to beat Jurgen Melzer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to get to the semi's. My pick to get to the semi's in the upper half of the draw are Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.
In the lower half of the draw, you have Federer, Djokovic, Davydenko and Roddick. Federer may have to deal with some very competent players like Gilles Simon, Xavier Malisse, Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick. Djokovic on the other hand, may need to trip Ivo Karlovic, Victor Troicki, Nicolas Almagro and Nikolay Davydenko. My pick to get to the semi's in the lower half of the draw are Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Anyhow, my prediction for the finals is still Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer.
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