Day 7: Australian Open Match of the Day

A night match in Australia, Andy Roddick an Stanislas Wawrinka.

These two will be playing for the right to play Roger Federer in the quarters.  Wawrinka may be playing better at the moment, but Roddick has a much more impressive resume and a better record in Grand Slam tournament. 

The two have played three times, with Stan holding a 2-1 advantage.  The interesting fact is in the two victories by Wawrinka, Roddick had to retire in each match with injury.  The only time they played a complete match was in 2009 when in a Davis Cup tie, Roddick beat Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

Look for the competitive juices to be flowing in this one.  Roddick will have to serve big, and Wawrinka will have to return well.

Look for a tight 4-setter with Roddick winning a tie-breaker in the 4th to take the match. 

Roddick in 4.

*Upset alert -  Nicolas Almagro is playing well and he plays Novak Djokovic.  Its an afternoon match on Hisense and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Almagro takes it 5 sets and wins.

Day 6: Australian Open Match of the Day

The Australian Open is loaded with potentially great matches today.

How about Sam Stosur against Petra Kvitova, Flavia Pennetta vs. Shahar Peer, Jurgen Metzer and Marcos Baghdatis, or even Rafael Nadal and Aussie upstart Bernard Tomic?

In my estimation, the best match of the day should be out on Margaret Court, a match between John Isner and Marin Cilic.  Seems strange, but the two have never played before.  What that means today is there will be tons of big serves and huge forehands exchanged.

Who ever can break serve more than once should win and the over/under on the number of tie-breakers is 3.  On paper and in the seeding, Cilic is the slight favorite.  I happen to like the grit and determination of Isner.  He got by Stepanek last round, now he takes out Cilic in 4.

Day 5: Australian Open Match of the Day

Men's 3rd Round on Rod Laver Court

Stanislas Wawrinka vs. Gael Monfils

It doesn't get much better than a night match on Rod Laver with these two shotmakers.  I don't expect either player to give and inch and we should see a tie-breaker or two.

The two have played 3 times with Monfils holding a 2-1 advantage.  They have never played a 3 out of 5 set match, though.

Stan reached the third round with two straight-set wins while Monfils had to come from two down to beat Thiemo DeBakker and dropped a set to young Federico Gil in the second.  This is a match Monfils should win, but I think in the end, Wawrinka comes through with a 5-set win.

*Upset alert - Don't be surprised at all if Venus Williams goes out tonight losing to Andrea Petkovic, a German that will be in every point.

Day 3: Australian Open Match of the Day

Men's Singles - 2nd Round
Janko Tipsarevic(SRB)	vs.	Fernando Verdasco(ESP)[9]

This is a great 2nd round match between two guys who have played three previous times.

Tipsarevic owns a 2-1 lead in head-to-head action.  All three matches were played on hard courts and Verdasco won the last meeting back in 2009 in Valencia.

Both players should have rooting sections from their respective countries in Serbia an Spain.

Tipsarevic likes playing in Australia, almost beating Roger Federer here in 2008.  Verdasco has played well in the Australian Open, reaching the semis in 2009.

It will be a minimum 4 set war, possibly 5 sets, but Tipsarevic will come out on top this time.

*Upset alert - In a second round women's match Rebecca will take Francesca Schiavone to the limit and win.

Lauren Davis will Play on a Big Stage in Australia

Lauren Davis hits a serve against CoCo Vandeweghe. Photo by: Rick Limpert

Ohio teenager Lauren Davis will get her first taste of Grand Slam tennis on Monday, and it will be on one of the biggest stages in tennis.  She also will match up with one of the biggest names in women's tennis and a favorite to win the 2011 Australian Open in 5th-seeded Sam Stosur.

Davis earned the USTA's Australian Open wildcard last month at a qualifying tournament in Atlanta.  While she is only ranked in the 400's, Davis is on quite a roll heading to Australia. She won 27 consecutive matches and 36 out of 37 including two Pro Circuit events, the Dunlop Junior Orange Bowl along with the Eddie Herr Junior Championships before her victory in Atlanta.

In Atlanta, Davis rolled through the competition including a 6-2, 6-2 upset over CoCo Vandeweghe in the finals.  Vandeweghe was ranked more than 300 spaces ahead of Davis, but Daivis looked to be the fitter and more prepared player that day.  At first glance, Davis appears to be one-trick pony baseliner.  But after watching her, she's much more.  While she does rely on her speed to motor around the court, she has a nice slice backhand, and when drawn into the net, she showed no fear and good anticipation by putting away volleys.  She also mixes up her serve well for a player 5'3", but this is an area of her game she can improve on.

It will be a different world for Davis on a showcourt against a player with a big game like Stosur, but if she sticks to what she does best and isn't intimidated by Stosur right off the bat, she should make Stousr work for this match. 

How will Davis fare?  Well, I don't think the USTA will think they wasted a wildcard here.  I see Davis starting a little slow, but I expect to see her keep fighting to the end with something like a 6-1, 7-5 result. It's a loss, but it should give Davis an idea of how she stacks up against the best in the world and what she will need to do, and work on to compete with them each week on tour.  Davis also turned pro this week in order to accept the $20,000 in prize money minimum the Australian Open offers.

As she plays more, Davis' ranking should head up quickly.  Reaching the top-200 by the summer shouldn't be out of the question.  She has a long way to go, but with her working hard and a great attitude, there is no limit for this young American who is really just breaking onto the big time tennis scene.