I'm doing it completely differently for this tournament. Rather than two posts talking about the men's and women's draws, I'm stealing something that espn.com does and giving you the “power rankings” of the top players, regardless of gender. I have a couple of reasons for this. One is that I've noticed that the men's draw post gets about ten times more traffic than the post on the women's draw. This way, I get rid of something hardly anyone was reading anyway. Also, it gives me an opportunity to simply focus on the players I think are most noteworthy. I guess I have a third reason as well, which is that with Kim Clijsters retired and Venus Williams not really a factor I'm just not as interested in the women right now.
My rankings are completely subjective. I rank them not only on their chances of winning the tournament, but also their chances of doing very well, being part of a surprising result (good or bad) and their chances of ending up getting a lot of attention (and whether or not I find them remotely interesting). Men also get points for being hot. The player's seed is in parentheses.
15. Venus Williams (-) – At this point in her career, she's not a threat to win a major. She probably won't even make it to the second week. Still, she's got as good a draw as you can ask for, not having to play any of the top three players until the semi-finals. My brain says she will lose to Sabine Lisicki in the third round, but my heart is rooting for a quarter-final against Petra Kvitova.
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14. Simona Halep (11) – She ended 2012 ranked number 47. She's ranked 11th now. That's good for at least a mention.
13. Tommy Haas (12) – I'm pretty sure he's the oldest guy in the draw (but I didn't check everyone's birth date so I could be wrong) and I've just always liked him. It would be a hoot to see him pull off a couple of big wins. Based on his draw (Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer are the top seeds in his quarter), getting to the quarter- or semi-final isn't out of the question.
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11. Grigor Dimitrov (22) – I've been saying this for at least a year (and at some point I may have to face a grim reality), but I still believe Dimitrov is going to have a big result. Soon. However, considering he'll probably have to beat Juan Martin Del Potro and Rafael Nadal to do it here, it won't be now.
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9. Na Li (4) – Now that I always remember in which order to write and say her name, I enjoy her a lot more. She's fun to watch, whether it's because she's playing well or because she's nailing a few forehands into the stand (unintentionally). She's also fun to listen to when she's being interviewed after the match, sometimes more so when she's been hitting forehands into the stands.
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7. Andy Murray (4) – I don't know what to make of him. He missed the last quarter of the season due to back surgery. His draw isn't great. To win the tournament, he could potentially have to beat John Isner, Roger Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic in succession. It makes -my- back hurt just thinking about it.
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6. Roger Federer (6) – Last year was probably a disappointment, but it gave him a whole season to adjust to being the underdog and the sentimental favorite. I doubt he'll win here, but it could be a very emotional and entertaining semi-final if both he and Nadal get there.
5. Juan Martin Del Potro (5) – If Del Potro's going to win another major, it will probably be here – on hard courts at the beginning of the season when not everyone's in peak form. He just won the tournament in Sydney today so he's going in playing well. He's probably the one guy that could beat Nadal before the final.
4. Rafael Nadal (1) – He's the number one seed and the number one player in the world, but there's no ignoring that this is the major tournament where he's had the least success. He also has a draw that might as well have been handpicked by Djokovic. He's got Murray, Del Potro and Federer in his half. Plus he has to play the number one Australian player, Bernard Tomic, in the first round. At least he doesn't have any points to defend.
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3. Victoria Azarenka (2) – She's the two-time defending champion. If anyone other than Serena is going to win it, it will most likely be her. But honestly I haven't disliked a top player this much since Justine Henin retired. The screeching, the attitude – I find almost everything about her unpleasant.
2. Serena Williams (1) – I want to be clear that it's not gender bias that had me rank Serena number two rather than one. It's simply that I think Azarenka has a better chance of beating her than Nadal does of beating Djokovic. But I also wouldn't be surprised if she went the whole two weeks without losing a set.
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