Major Major, myna myna (match days 1-2)

Here we are again Down Under!  Oy oy oy!

Also underway in Kailua with a concurrent Challenger level ATP event this fortnight.

And for the 6th consecutive year I'm saying, I will be there in [M[E[L[B|O]U]R]N]E] live-blogging next year... but this time I have the frequent flier miles to prove it!

For those of you who want to know what I know...

Dark horses:
Juan Martin del Potro started last season ranked in the 200s but pushed all the way uphill to #11 by year end. This year he should be ready for results out of the gate. He's in Fed's quarter but would have to get by Fish first.

Milos Raonic of Canada (age:21) was heating up last year before some injuries.  He was able to keep a nice ranking by year end of #31. He already has a title this year in Chennai with two top-10 Ws (Almagro, Tipsarevic). He reminds me of a young Sampras. Raonic / Roddick would actually be a fun match (round 3).

Only if Nadal isn't fully fit (banged up knees), Donald Young could be dangerous.  Either way it will be interesting to see him play Nadal or Haas in round 3.

Some Favorites:
Roger (president) has a new white paint job on his Wilson stick. The serve looks strong. He actually had a pretty tough qualy opponent, the type of guy you might find in a Challenger tourney, all the way down to the mismatched socks.

Nadal (vice-president) is not looking so hot. And Australia is not the place to have fitness issues. Last year he was partly bounced due to a bum leg muscle. Hopefully the knee remains "the strangest" experience of his life and nothing more. He also has a potentially tricky draw ahead.

Djokovic, defending champion of everything. He dropped 2 games in his opening match. I hope he can get his game back on track going forward. 

Coach Ivan Lendl to pupil Murray: more sawdust.  Ryan Harrison (USA) took set #1 from Andy, but that was all. Maybe he flies straight out to Hawaii for some more ranking points?

Tomic v Querry is probably the best 2nd round match after Nadal / Haas.

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FEDERER, the man: [the off season workout regimen] has definitely changed from maybe 8 years back. Whereas in the beginning you are trying to build up a base, doing much more... trying to get stronger, doing much more weights potentially because you gain more, then eventually they say "your a man", right?

Tour players (Nadal, Davydenko) are also calling him "the man" for other reasons. As president of the Players Council they are worried about how he is handling revenue sharing (what else) between players and tournaments. Could there be a tournament boycott this season? We can only hope this isn't a distraction in Melbourne. But definitely stay tuned just before Indian Wells...