Throw in Cilic, Gonzo, Youzhny, Isner, and a few others and you are talking complete chaos...just the way I like it.

blimey. this really is gonna be fascinating to watch. here's hoping rafa gets the draw he wants :P :D

TFC - Cilic was mentioned.

Isner would normally be atop the dangerous floaters section as the highest-ranked player who isnt seeded, but Cheryl INSISTS that someone will pull out and Isner will get a seed.

Ferrero is gonna pull out. Mark my words.

Is Monfils in or out? He was not on your preview for part 1 either.

cheryl,

Thanks for putting together all this information. This is the one I was anxious to see. In every grand slam there seems to be a giant killer that comes almost out of nowhere to take out one of the top guys. Now we know who to keep an eye on at the AO. It's the early rounds that usually make me the most nervous.

I know most of these guys, but there are a few with whom I am not that familiar. Now I know who to keep an eye on for any surprises.

Isner could be trouble whether he's seeded or not.

I can't wait to see the draw on Friday. That should give us a better picture. I look forward to either you or Ricky giving us an updated preview after the draw has come out.

Native - as you can see at the top, I will be doing "draw analysis" immediately after the draw comes out

Cheryl will also be doing live commentary during the draw ceremony so that we have a place to talk about it as it happens

when is the draw made?

You guys, cheryl and ricky, are just brilliant! Can't wait.....

No question is going to be a fascinating AO. So many contenders, all hungry for their shot at a Major title are sure to put on a great show. I think Rafa is slightly favorite to win, being the defending champion, good with heat, having been working hard recently, getting relatively good results in the last two events, experience winning Majors, and his legendary mental toughness and stamina seem to be almost completely back. Federer is the next favorite, and after him I would go with 3-Delpo, 4-Djokovic, 5-Roddick, 6-Davydenko, 7-Murray, 8-Soderling and 9-Verdasco, in that order.

Sib - it's 11:00 pm GMT.

11pm today? as in in 50 minutes time?

no. Tomorrow night.

ok. thanks cheryl :)

Ricky,

Sorry, you are correct. It's right there for all to see. I should read more carefully, but I was kind of anxious to get to the article itself, so I skipped over that part.

I appreciate your patience in pointing out the obvious! :)

Ricky, Cheryl, or anybody who may know,
I noticed del Potro and Tsonga only played one round in Kooyong and they have been replaced by Murray and Querrey. Any known injuries to report?

On a related note, Verdasco just thrashed Djoker 6-1,6-2. Could he be regaining last year's form?

chr - they aren't injured. There was a bunch of weirdness with the schedule because Federer had them hold his spot for so long. And by the time it had opened up, Murray didn't want the spot for the whole time anymore. So they're....time-sharing some of the slots.

Querrey lost early in Sydney and wanted more warm up time, so they just squeezed him in as well.

oophs! Verdasco thrashing Djoker is quite scary. Looks like both Verdasco and Djoker are regaining thier last years form.

Thanks Cheryl, that's good to know they're not injured.

This is shaping up to be probably the most interesting draw since the dawn of the WEAK ERA in 2003. There's a chance that one of Fed/Nadal might end up facing Murray in the QF and Delpo in the SF. If that happens, and for whichever of the top 2 seeds it happens, that guy is NOT winning the AO Open. That's for sure.

Both Fed and Nadal would be wishing for Delpo to land in the opposing quarter. The tall Argentinian is shaping out to be a nightmare for the top 2 seeds. Especially Nadal.

AO favorites : 1) Federer 2) Del Potro 3) Nadal 4) Djokovic/Murray 5) Soderling. I can't see anyone else winning (other than these 6 players)

And as I type the above comment implicitly discounting Verdasco's chances to win the AO, the Spaniard thrashes Djokovic 6-1, 6-2 playing some really good tennis.
What does Verdasco do during the off-season with Reyes in Vegas?

So Verdasco also has a chance to win? That will make it six players, imjimmy?

Ricky, I like your comments about Davydenko, that he doesn't care about anything. Yes, that's what I thought about him too, he couldn't care less now which quarter he lands in, as he is capable of beating all the top four seeds!! He is also capable of beating seed no.5, 7-10 too! Its so amazing what Davy can do now. I think one player he wouldn't like to meet is Cilic, as he does not have a good H2H against Cilic. Who knows, maybe this year we'll have two hot streak players - Davy and Cilic!

I should say 'That will make it seven players'.

i dont know where to post this.........i feel this is the better spot

New Zealand would be well served by a World Cup-style tennis tournament proposed by the ATP Player Council, Tennis New Zealand chief executive Steve Walker says.

World No 3 Novak Djokovic, a member of the players' council, along with the world's top two players Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, was involved with the World Cup proposal, which had been submitted to the All England Club, the United States Tennis Association and Tennis Australia.

"It's all fresh and it's all ideas," Djokovic told media.

"We didn't decide to put anything on an official term because we have to consider other sides as well. But the main point is that we are trying to make this sport improve and get better and players are most important - this is the bottom line."

The World Cup proposal, which suggested a biennial 32-team, 10-day tournament, featuring shorter matches in which players have to watch the clock between points and including compulsory mid-match substitutions, was greeted cautiously by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

"This proposal, also shown to the ITF, has some interesting elements and, of course, timely branding, given the current worldwide fascination with the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Article continues below
It also has many challenges that must be faced if it is to succeed," the ITF said in a statement.

"Everyone is in agreement that a nation versus nation format is very attractive, something Davis Cup has recognised for over a century, and only time will tell if a new competition can earn a regular place in the tennis calendar."

Tennis New Zealand's Walker told NZPA he thought a World Cup was an exciting concept and had a real chance of going forward.

"If it was a bunch of unknown event managers or marketers talking about it I'd be sceptical, but if you've got Djokovic talking about it and it's backed by Federer and Nadal, it's going to gather some momentum. It's got some clout."

The proposed tournament had the potential to serve New Zealand well, he said.

"If you look where we're at in Fed Cup, we're not able to make the top 16 at the moment, and in Davis Cup, with the world group 16 countries and Asia-Oceania group one eight countries, there're 24 countries ahead of us, so I think top 32 would be a realistic aspiration for us at the moment, and a good stepping stone," Walker said.

"Depending on the format, the time of year, the cost, we would be very open-minded about it."

Everyone wants to be in Djokovic quarter... man who win AO two years ago... strange... he was not so bad last year at all...

chr - I was incorrect...one of the guys IS injured. The rest of them are just playing with a crazy schedule, but Del Potro actually is injured. Wrist injury. I'm going to post an article about it.

Wow this is a damper already. The Sod and del Potro are hurt and Djoker can't take the heat. Maybe this won't turn out to be so competitive after all.

If Delpo pulls out, Murray will be seeded 4 after all.

What on earth happened to Djoker against Verdasco? Anyone see it?

Cheryl, yes but IS delpo injured?! Looking forward to your article ...

Why do players have injuries so early in the season? Are they new injuries or old ones that flare up again? I think both Delpo and Soderling should not rush into tournaments if they have not properly recover from their injuries. I think Murray missed some tournaments in order to let his wrist fully recover, a wise decision.

alex - yes, it appears he is injured. His people won't say how badly though. The article is up.

none of them are "injured." Maybe "hurt," but not "injured."

Delpo will be fine.

alex, i found this from Martin Boulton:

The winner of the most-recent grand slam title, 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, and 2009 French Open finalist Robin Soderling withdrew from Kooyong's Classic yesterday with a wrist and elbow injury respectively, forcing organisers of the eight-man event to reshuffle remaining matches.

It was clear, however, that both Del Potro and Soderling were merely being cautious with their bodies and unless there was a further aggravation at the weekend, there seemed little chance that either would miss the Australian Open. Del Potro practised yesterday morning, withdrawing some hours later.

Soderling, the eighth-ranked player in the world, pulled out of his match against Ivan Ljubicic after losing the first set (6-4), due to a sore elbow - an injury that the Swede said had troubled him ''on and off'' for six months, having first surfaced at Wimbledon last year. ''Today, I felt it a little bit more, so I didn't want to take any risks,'' he said.

Del Potro, seeded fourth and one of the favourites to win the Australian Open (he is behind only Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in betting) was likewise playing it safe with his wrist.

This is the latest following the suspension of Yanina Wickameyer for missing her drugs test:

Along with her compatriot Xavier Malisse, who also received a one-year suspension for similar infractions, Wickmayer appealed and, on December 14, a civil court in Brussels ruled that the Flemish Anti-doping Tribunal?s decision had violated European human rights conventions and revoked the suspensions. (The cases are on appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with a decision is expected within three months.)

That was good news for Wickmayer but it came a week after the entry date, December 7, for the Australian Open and so she could only play with a wildcard or via the qualifying.

When her request for a wildcard was turned down, she had no option but the qualifying.

Correction:

When her request for a wildcard was turned down, she had no option but to qualify.