There are 101 of the 104 direct acceptances in this year’s field with the only withdrawals No. 28 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, No. 68/2007 Australian Open runner-up Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and No. 97 Paul-Henri Mathieu of France. Leading the way are the Top 2 duo of World No. 1 and 2009 champion Rafael Nadal and four-time winner Roger Federer; Novak Djokovic (2008) is the only other past champion in the draw.
This is the 20th Grand Slam tournament in the past 22 (since ’05 US Open) that Nadal and Federer have occupied the top two seeded positions. The only Slams where it didn’t occur were the 2006 Australian Open and 2009 Wimbledon (due to Nadal injury). One of the two has won 21 of the past 23 Grand Slam titles since Nadal broke through with his first major crown at 2005 Roland Garros.
Nadal begins his quest for the “Rafa Slam.” The last player to win four straight Grand Slam titles was Rod Laver in 1969 when he won all four that year. There are six Grand Slam title winners in the field, three in the top half (Nadal-9, Hewitt-2, del Potro-1) and three in the bottom half (Federer-16, Djokovic-1, Roddick-1). The oldest player in the draw at 34 is 2003 Australian Open runner-up Rainer Schuettler, who plays No. 9 seed Fernando Verdasco in the first round. The youngest player in the field is Aussie wild card Bernard Tomic (18 years, 2 months).
Main Singles Draw
Here is a breakdown of the draw:
TOP HALF –
First Quarter
• World No. 1 and nine-time Grand Slam title winner Nadal is the top seed in a Grand Slam tournament for the fifth time in his career, including the past three Slams. He has won the title in three of the previous four Grand Slam events when seeded No. 1 (except ’09 Roland Garros). Nadal opens with Brazilian Marcos Daniel (Nadal leads 2-0). The highest seed he could meet is No. 4 Robin Soderling in the semi-finals (Nadal leads 5-2). Here are the seeds in the Spaniard’s quarter of the draw: No. 7 David Ferrer (Nadal leads 11-3), No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny (Nadal leads 8-4), No. 15 Marin Cilic (Cilic leads 1-0), No. 20 John Isner (Nadal leads 2-0), No. 27 David Nalbandian (tied 2-2) and No. 31 Feliciano Lopez (Nadal leads 6-2).
• Former two-time World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt makes his 15th straight appearance in Melbourne as he opens against former World No. 3 Nalbandian (Hewitt leads 3-2, although Nalbandian won last two). This is the second time in three years the Aussie is unseeded. They met here in the quarter-finals in ’05 and Hewitt prevailed 10-8 in the fifth set en route to the final.
Second Quarter
• Soderling is seeded No. 4 for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament. He takes on Italian Potito Starace (tied 1-1, first on hard courts) in the first round. The first seed the Swede could meet is No. 30 Thomaz Bellucci (Soderling leads 1-0) in the third round. His fourth round seeded opponent could be No. 13 and 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Soderling leads 3-0) or No. 24 Ernests Gulbis (Soderling leads 1-0). Soderling’s possible seeded opponents in the quarter-finals are: No. 5 and last year’s runner-up Andy Murray (Murray leads 3-2), No. 11 Jurgen Melzer (Soderling leads 2-0), No. 21 and ’06 finalist Marcos Baghdatis (Soderling leads 3-2) and No. 32 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Soderling leads 2-0).
• Argentine and 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, who is playing in his first Grand Slam event since last year’s Australian Open (fourth round) due to a right wrist injury last season, plays Dudi Sela in the first round. He could meet Baghdatis in the second round (del Potro leads 1-0).
BOTTOM HALF –
Third Quarter
• World No. 3 and 2008 Australian Open champion Djokovic is the highest seed in the third quarter of the draw. The Serb meets Spaniard Marcel Granollers (first meeting) in the first round and he could face big-serving and dangerous Croat Ivo Karlovic in the second round (tied 1-1). The first seed he could meet is countryman and No. 29 Viktor Troicki in the third round (Djokovic leads 6-1). Other seeds in the Djokovic section are: No. 14 Nicolas Almagro (Djokovic leads 1-0) and No. 17 Ivan Ljubicic (Djokovic leads 7-2), both possible fourth round opponents. In the quarter-finals he could meet No. 6 Tomas Berdych (Djokovic leads 4-1), No. 9 Fernando Verdasco (Djokovic leads 5-4), No. 23 Nikolay Davydenko (Djokovic leads 3-2) or No. 28 Richard Gasquet (Djokovic leads 3-1).
Fourth Quarter
• In the final quarter, No. 2 and four-time champion Roger Federer (2004, ’06-07, ’10) makes his 45th consecutive Grand Slam tournament start (fourth-longest in Open Era) against Slovak Lukas Lacko in a first-time meeting. The 16-time Grand Slam title winner could have an early test in the second round against former Top 10 Gilles Simon, who won both previous meetings in 2008. Simon plays top Asian and Wimbledon quarter-finalist Yen-Hsun Lu in the first round. Federer’s first seeded opponent would be No. 25 Albert Montanes (Federer leads 3-1) in the third round and in the fourth round he could meet an American, No. 16 Mardy Fish (Federer leads 6-1) or No. 18 Sam Querrey (Federer leads 2-0). In the quarter-finals, Federer’s highest seeded opponent is No. 8 Roddick (Federer leads 20-2).
• World No. 8 and four-time semi-finalist (2003, ’05, ’07, ’09) Andy Roddick brings a 34-9 career record into his 10th trip to Melbourne. Roddick comes in after opening the season with a runner-up showing in Brisbane (l. to Soderling). The top American takes on Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic in the first round in a first-time meeting. Hajek has never won a Grand Slam match (0-4). The first seed Roddick could face is No. 26 Juan Monaco (never met) in the third round. In the fourth round, Roddick could meet No. 12 Gael Monfils (Monfils leads 5-3) or No. 19 Stanislas Wawrinka (Wawrinka leads 2-1).
