The big question, heading into the Australian Open, with Nadal out due to a stomach virus, is which half Andy Murray, the number 3 seed, would fall.  He’s in Federer’s half.  This puts David Ferrer, the fourth seed, in Djokovic’s half.

Things aren’t all rosy for the top seeds.  The high seed for Djokovic in the quarters is Berdych, for Ferrer, it’s Tipsarevic, for Murray, it’s del Potro, and for Federer, it’s Tsonga.  By contrast, Federer had pretty much a dream draw at Wimbledon up until the semis, avoiding Tsonga and Berdych en route.

There are some first round matches of note.  Verdasco vs. Goffin, Benneteau vs. Dimitrov (Benneteau got the last seed), Hewitt vs. Tipsarevic (Hewitt has played well in an exo tourney leading to the Australian Open), Tsonga-Llodra, and there are 3 Aussie wildcards stuck next to each other (Saville, Duckworth, Mitchell).  Even Benoit Paire playing Roger Federer in the opening round promises intrigue.  Andy Murray opens up with Robin Haase who pushed Nadal to 5 sets at Wimbledon a few years ago.  Haase hasn’t had a ton of success since then, but he’s a relatively big hitter.

The tournament starts Monday.  There’s been huge heat wave in Australia.  In past years, the heat hasn’t been so bad (the last 2-3 years).  But this year, it’s particularly bad, so it will be interesting to see how this works out.