2010 Australian Open Contenders & Pretenders.

The Australian Open is a unique grand slam for a variety of reasons. First, the Australian Open is the only tennis major in the southern hemisphere. Second,  the Australian Open  is the first major tennis tournament of the year. The Australian Open  starts on January 18th and ends January 31st 2010. Third, the top players are rusty and their games aren’t acclimated at this point of the year.

Kim Clijsters of Belgium won the Brisbane International last week defeating her countrywoman Justine Henin. Clijsters  the 2009 US Open champion, is the  favourite to win the Australian Open women’s event. Clijsters has defeated Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Justine Henin in the past four months.

The Australian Open is the best chance for someone new to rise to the challenge and win a major.  Nikolay Davydenko of Russia has surprised a lot of people. Davydenko has won six ATP tour titles since the summer of 2009. However, the question is can Davydenko win a grand slam?

I believe the winner will probably be either Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, or Juan Martin Del Potro. I don’t think Andy Roddick can win the Australian Open I am not convinced he has the ability to beat the best. Andy Murray has been in a slump he lost to Tommy Robredo at the Hopman Cup last week.

Here  are the  pretenders and contenders for the 2010 Australian Open men and women’s titles.