Yeah I'm surprised that Fed isn't playing any tournament this week, must have decided that Kooyong will be sufficient preparation for the AO this year. Maybe he feels that he needs an extra week's rest having played so many matches in 2006 or could he be playing the Hopman Cup ?
Very surprising aswell that Henman hasn't entered a tournament in week 1 or week 2. I can't see him playing any challengers, is he playing Kooyong ? If not, although he's got the dodgy back, going into a slam without any matches under his belt is pretty risky. He could surely get a wildcard into Adelaide if he changes his mind, as a previous winner there.
Will be interesting to see how Nadal gets on, can he end his title drought. He hasn't been past the quarters of an ATP since June, unless you count the Masters Cup. Courts in Chennai should suit him. Nalbandian is probably his only threat, I can't see any of the others troubling him. Malisse could give him a tough match if he hits top form but on a slow, bouncy hard court I don't think he has the consistency to outhit Nadal over 3 sets.
Doha is probably the strongest field, hopefully Andy can find his form at the start of 2007. He'll need to given the players entered there, in the early rounds Wawrinka will be someone he'll hope to avoid - he's been a bit of a bogeyman for Andy, hopefully he avoids Monfils aswell in rd1. This year he was quite rusty in Jan but that was partly due to a lot of indecision over his game plan and tactics. The rebound ace courts should suit Andy's game down to the ground. He beat Ljubicic on fast indoor hard so he can definately do so outdoors. Davydenko, Haas, Baghdatis and Grosjean are the guys I'd be worried about if they're in Andy's half.
ultimateshedman wrote: Maybe he feels that he needs an extra week's rest having played so many matches in 2006 or could he be playing the Hopman Cup ?
the hopman cup teams already been decided. ive checked out the teams, india have qualified for the hopman cup via winners of the first asian hopman cup last week. Though whats puzzling me before the asian hopman cup, south korea(asia) were the wildcard team but now been replaced by germany. all the big countries are there i.e. USA, Russia and Spain.
Are Chile and Switzerland involved in the Hopman Cup, out of interest ?
Andy was considering playing it last year with Baltacha, but opted for Adelaide in the end instead.
Why did South Korea always get wildcards when the Hopman Cup is played in Australia. Maybe Tennis Australia have done a deal this year with the Germans so they Aussies get wildcards into TMS Hamburg in exchange for a Hopman cup wildcard
Interesting teams are Croatia, where Mario Ancic teams up with younger sister Sanja and Czech Republic, where Tomas Berdych teams up with girlfriend Lucie Safarova.
Other teams are -
Russia - Nadia Petrova and Dmitry Tursunov. USA - Venus and Taylor Dent makes a long awaited comeback. Australia - Molik and wild card man. Germany - Martina Muller and Kiefer. Spain - Anabel Medina Garrigues and Robredo. India - Mirza and Rohan Bopanna.