Tym Glaser

SORREE, SORREE, I know it's a little late to start pontificating about the Australian Open but, unfortunately, things don't always go to plan in this little, old world of ours.

Like, if they did now, I'd be sitting on a beach in Negril instead of hunched over a laptop in my living room.

If they really, really went to plan I'd be a retired great of cricket sitting in a lofty aerie and passing on my expert views via the box with the moving pictures inside.

Still, I digress; back to Melbourne.

The Aussie Open grand slam tennis tournament is always the one most likely to toss up odd results because it's the first big tournament early in the season and some of the top players aren't aiming to peak until the lucrative May-June run through Europe, which includes the French Open and Wimbledon.

That doesn't mean the players don't take the Oz Open seriously, it's just that it's hard to maintain top form for a season which runs nearly 11 months.

Despite all that, I expect the same old suspects to be battling it out late next week under the broiling Australian sun.

Former champion Amelie Mauresmo was dumped yesterday by unheralded Australian Casey Dellacqua but the Frenchwoman is struggling back from injury and I didn't expect her to repeat her 2006 title-winning ways this time out.

That leaves a pretty pared down women's field which is stacked at the top of the draw with the likes of world No.1 Justin Henin, No. 3 seeded Serb 'Weird' Jelena Jankovic, Russia/U.S. star Maria Sharapova, seeded fifth, and last year's champion, Serena Williams.

Henin and Sharapova and Jankovic and Williams are on crash paths at the quarter-final stage.

On-court demons

Williams looks a lock to reach the semis as you just can't trust the form of Jankovic, who seems to have as much trouble beating her on-court demons as she does opponents. Her serve deserts her way too often and that's just not gonna work against Sister Serena.

A Henin/Sharapova semi could go either way. The speeded-up hardcourts certainly helps Sharapova's game but Henin is as steady as they come on all surfaces and that little Belgian body of hers should motor into the semis, too.

A Henin/S. Williams semi would be even better as a final but that's the way the ping-pong balls fall.

You would think Serena's power game would simply blow away a lithe figure like Henin, but they are actually all square after 12 meetings and Henin's style seems to really get under Serena's skin. I'll go with Henin in three.

The bottom of the draw seems tailor-made for Venus Williams, whose biggest challenge could come from No. 4 seeded Ana Ivanovic in the quarters. If she gets past the Serb, it should be smooth sailing through to the final unless Russian No. 2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova can pull off something in the semis.

So, that would mean Henin facing yet another Williams along an incredibly tough path to the crown she won in 2004. I get the sneaking feeling those battles will take just a little too much out of Henin and she will struggle against the one player on the Tour that has her measure. In nine meetings, Venus has won seven. So, the engraver should be etching V. Williams on the trophy, for the first time, next week.

Federer/ Nadal final

Without wishing to over-simplify things on the men's side, it's hard to see anyone outside of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic stopping Roger Federer from winning his third straight Oz Open title and launching yet another campaign for the elusive grand slam.

Nadal, thanks to the demise of big-serving American Andy Roddick yesterday, should waltz into the final.

The entertaining Djokovic is scheduled to tackle the Federer Express in the semis but that task looks just beyond the young Serb at this stage of his budding career and against probably the greatest player to swing a racquet.

So, ho hum, another Federer/ Nadal final. The pacy courts would certainly suit the Swiss but Nadal is definitely a lot more than a clay-court specialist and this would give him another shot to prove himself against the best on a surface other than dirt.

Somehow, though, I think Federer really wants a calendar-year grand slam to put on top of a myriad of other accomplishments and he's not gonna let this first one slip.

Later ...

Feedback: tym.glaser@gleanerjm.com