let the games begin

as of this writing, according to my pc clock, it's 8 minutes to 1 in the morning, gmt +1. melbourne is gmt +11, ergo... need i say it pa, 10 hours ahead of our local time. that means... in a little over two hours, the australian open starts a-swinging!

the men's draw is a nailbiter, anywhere you look, choose your quarter, and you're in for some potentially explosive encounters and possible upsets. can you say exciting in ten thousand more ways, please? in roger's half, he could face baghdatis in the quarters, either marat or roddick in the semis. tennis commentators and former players at espn.com predict that this is roddick's tournament, this is his year. for marat's sake, let it belong to the tall, beautiful moscovite. the texan can swagger into the US open or wimbledon later in the year. my russian needs this one! ice man roger, you are the favourite but please, step aside smoothly (i hope) and try not to snarl menacingly. you will still be enshrined in the hall of fame not too many years down the road. that's a certainty. rafa baby, i love your beautiful bottom, your muscled arms, your glistening body, your wayward locks, but can you handle kendrick in round 1? will you be able to stop blake? how about murray? will there be an intriguing semi between you and king david nalby? talk about a delicious match, if both of you bring your A games... huwaw!!! all-nighter but so worth it. marcos, can you go deep into the draw? hmmm, that sounded a little provocative now, didn't it? :) anyhow, enough of the men's draw. click here to see the draw for yourself.

on the women's side, i am openly rooting for kim clijsters to win the trophy for sentimental reasons (darn the girl, rolling in loads of money off endorsements --- did i hear at least $14 million --- and with a great career already in the bag) and because i love watching her play. she's got game. when she's on fire, she sets lines on fire and blows corners away. and she's not all power only. i love her lobs and recently, her crosscourt backhand drop shot that she used quite effectively against jankovic in their sydney final. (thank you, sporza, for the complete coverage!) i would love to see martina hingis go deep in the open, surpassing her quarterfinal showing of the year before, when she had just embarked on her comeback voyage... from a nominal seeding of 9,999, the tough swiss miss ended the year at number 8. she is seeded 6th at the AO (henceforth, this shall mean the australian open) and if she lives up to that seeding, it would be nice to see her win a quarterfinal and do one step more. everyone else, my eldest son included, is confident that maria sharapova will take the prize this year, seeing as how justine henin-hardenne has decided to disappear from the tennis grand slam radar to divorce her sleeveless shirted husband of the past four years, pierre yves. other players to watch, according to svelte me? my beloved russian pair, nadia petrova of the long legs and svetlana kuznetsova of the squat frame. elena dementieva won't be on my radar for the AO, not unless she has miraculously developed a serve that won't embarrass the monkeys. i'd like to see how jelena jankovic performs at this slam following her impressive showing the past two weeks in auckland and sydney, and her great run at the USO (US open) last year. vaidisova, ho hum. schnyder... will you be booted out of the top ten? safina? nah, marat is it as far as rooting for your family is concerned. anyhow, if you want to look at the women's draw, click here to see the match-ups in the coming fortnight.

live streaming? eurosport is offering it at reasonable rates, but until i can get my test video to work, i won't subscribe. am just waiting for technical support to answer my e-mail (read: desperate and needy). i hope i can get live streaming coverage. that's three courts simultaneously, baby!

it's late and i have a thesis to write. tomorrow is my first real deadline (at last!). so i shall rest for now. as for your thoughts on the men's and women's draws, please, let those thoughts flow.