One-time leader and people's choice, Wayne Odesnik, now out of contention

Rather than holding a separate tournament, this year the USTA will award its Roland Garros wildcard to the player who accumulates the most points at the Sarasota and Savannah Challenger events.

With his victory in Sarasota, Sam Querrey technically leads the standings but his ranking of 99 on the April 16 cut-off was enough to secure a place in the Paris main draw anyway.

After of the Savannah quarter-finals, three players remain in contention. Here are the current standings:

The scenarios now are pretty simple.

Sweeting needs to win the title to take the wildcard but should he lose his semi-final against Gensse then the winner of the other semi-final between Baker and Strode gets the prize regardless of how they do in a potential final against the Frenchman.

Davis Cup is back and with it the tedious debates about the competition’s format.

Should it be every second year? Played at a single location a la the football World Cup? Left the hell alone?

Who knows? And right now who even cares? For now just kick back for the weekend and enjoy the action.

Spain v Kazakhstan – Oviedo, Indoor clay

Spain: Alex Corretja – Nicolas Almagro, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Marc Granollers, Marc Lopez

Kazakhstan: Yegor Shaldunov – Andrey Golubev, Mikhail Kukushkin, Evgeny Korolev, Yuri Schukin

Day one: Ferrero v Kukushkin, Almagro v Golubev,

Poor Spain. With their top two players likely to sit out the entire competition this year, new captain Alex Corretja has been forced into the ignominy of replacing them with a mere top 10 player and a one-time slam champion. The shame.

Joking aside, it’s an incredibly strong second string and at home on clay they should win comfortably.

The famously patriotic Kazakhs showed by winning in the Czech Republic at this stage last year that they shouldn’t be underestimated but they’re unlikely to repeat the trick here.

National pride will only get you so far, and in 2012 so far will mean a relegation playoff in September.

Austria v Russia – Wiener Neustadt, Indoor hard (Opticourt)

The "decline of Russian tennis" question was met with an enthusiastic response

Austria: Clemens Trimmel – Jurgen Melzer, Andreas Haider-Maurer, Alexander Peya, Oliver Marach

Russia:  Shamil Tarpischev – Igor Kunitsyn, Alex Bogomolov, Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny

Day one: Melzer v Kunitsyn, Haider-Maurer v Bogomolov

The idea of Alex Bogomolov and Igor Kunitsyn playing live singles rubbers for Russia would have been absolutely laughable a few years ago (not least because Bogomolov wasn’t even Russian).

That’s what they’ve been reduced to thanks to injuries (Youzhny), retirements (Safin) and general declines (Andreev, Davydenko).

Austria will rely heavily on Jurgen Melzer which in Davis Cup just isn’t exactly a recipe for success. Witness defeats to Jeremy Chardy and Steve Darcis last year for proof.

However, I’m going with Jurgen to buck his usual Davis Cup trends and pick up three points to edge his side into the quarter-final.

Canada v France – Vancouver, Indoor hard (Premier)

France beware: You're now entering the domain of Chairman Rao (via MTF user Gusztav)

Canada: Marin Laurendeau – Milos Raonic, Vasek Pospisil, Daniel Nestor, Frank Dancevic

France: Guy Forget – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Julien Benneteau, Michael Llodra, Gael Monfils

Day one: Pospisil v Tsonga, Raonic v Llodra

The Canadians have done a great job hyping this one and the tie sold out in no time at all. They’ve used some rather dubious methods, one poster apparently referring to forlorn French attempts to return the Milos Raonic serve with their baguettes, but you can’t argue with results.

France are undoubtedly favourites but Raonic is quite capable of beating Julien Benneteau in quick conditions and Daniel Nestor brings a quite absurd 29-4 Davis Cup doubles record to the party.

Vasek Pospisil also showed signs last year that he has the nerve to be a big-time Davis Cup player but ultimately you can expect the French to revert to the more orthodox tactic of playing with tennis racquets rather than baguettes, and edge into the quarter-final.

 Switzerland v USA – Fribourg, Indoor clay

Jim Courier's secret weapon: Killer bees

Switzerland: Severin Luthi – Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka, Marco Chiudinelli, Michael Lammer

USA: Jim Courier – Mardy Fish, John Isner, Mike Bryan, Ryan Harrison

Day one: Wawrinka v Fish, Federer v Isner

Roger Federer’s decision to play here makes this one an absolute banker for the home side. Add in clay courts and then subtract a Bryan and the size of the Americans’ task gets even greater.

John Isner is unlikely to trouble Federer on clay while Stanislas Wawrinka, on his best surface, should routine the out of form Mardy Fish.

Doubles could offer a stay of execution should Severin Luthi decide to rest his singles stars but it won’t be anything more than that for the USA.

Cue another nine months of American journalists bleating about the competition’s irrelevance.

Czech Republic v Italy – Ostrava, Indoor hard (Novacrylic Ultracushion)

"May the power of my mullet compel thee, Tomas."

Czech Republic: Jaroslav Navratil – Tomas Berdych, Radek Stepanek, Lukas Rosol, Frantisek Cermak

Italy: Corrado Barazzutti – Andreas Seppi, Simone Bolelli, Potito Starace, Daniele Bracciali

Day one: Berdych v Bolelli, Stepanek v Seppi

Given that they lost at home to Kazakhstan this time last year, nothing is certain with the Czechs but this should really be a whitewash.

Simone Bolelli can take some heart from the fact he’s beaten Tomas Berdych in their last two meetings but considering how both are playing at the moment a hat trick is unlikely.

Andreas Seppi can find no such comforts from his relevant head to head having lost to Radek Stepanek in all three of their meetings.

Even the Czechs won’t mess this one up.

Serbia v Sweden – Nis, Indoor hard (RuKortHard)

The 2010 champs

Serbia: Bogdan Obradovic – Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki, Nenad Zimonjic, Dusan Lajovic

Sweden: Thomas Enqvist – Michael Ryderstedt, Filip Prpic, Robert Linstedt, Johan Brunstrom

Day one: Tipsarevic v Prpic, Troicki v Ryderstedt

It’s no secret that Swedish tennis is a hell of a long way from its 80’s heyday but the extent of the decline is really shown up here.

With Robin Soderling recovering from glandular fever, the visitors will be forced to rely on Michael Ryderstedt and Filip Prpic in singles – players with world rankings of 348 and 1426 respectively (the latter possibly the lowest ranked player to play a live rubber in World Group history).

Doubles represents their only chance of picking up a live point but otherwise it will be a walk in the park for Serbia. No Djokovic, no problem.

Japan v Croatia – Tokyo, Indoor hard (Decoturf)

A lucky ballboy gets to meet Ivo

Japan: Eiji Takeuchi – Kei Nishikori, Go Soeda, Tatsuma Ito, Yuichi Sugita

Croatia: Zeljko Krajan – Ivan Dodig, Ivo Karlovic, Antonio Veic, Lovro Zovko

Day one: Soeda v Dodig, Nishikori v Karlovic

2012 has been a quite spectacular year for Japanese tennis so far and they’ll look to continue their progress with a win against a depleted Croatia side.

Marin Cilic is out with a knee problem and Ivan Ljubicic has retired from the competition. That leaves Ivo Karlovic and the woefully out of form Ivan Dodig as Croatia’s singles players.

Kei Nishikori will fancy his chances of picking up two points and Go Soeda has a real chance of upsetting Dodig in the opener.

Either way the hosts have a great chance to pick up their first World Group win since its inauguration in 1981.

Germany v Argentina – Bamberg, Indoor clay

Bridesmaids

Germany: Patrick Kuhnen – Florian Mayer, Philipp Petzschner, Tommy Haas, Cedric-Marcel Stebe

Argentina: Martin Jaite – David Nalbandian, Juan Monaco, Eduardo Schwank, Juan-Ignacio Chela

Day one: Petzschner v Monaco, Mayer v Nalbandian

This looked a real 50:50 tie in the making but then Philip Kohlschreiber withdrew.

For Germany to have any chance whatsoever, Philipp Petzschner needs to beat Juan Monaco in the first rubber.

Don’t rule it out. Although it’s far from his best surface, Petzschner has a decent record on home dirt and his unorthodox style could flummox the Argentinean.

Even that might not be enough though. David Nalbandian should get the better of Florian Mayer in the second rubber and then partner Eduard Schwank to the crucial doubles point.

Should they get through here the Argies will most likely have home ties all the way to the final. Could this finally be their year?  Fingers crossed.

Rules are made to be broken

I’ll probably come across as a complete curmudgeon for focussing on the negatives after such an enjoyable match, but Rafael Nadal’s four set victory over Tomas Berdych once again proved what a joke basic rule enforcement in tennis has become.

Both players regularly took over 40 seconds between points yet neither received a single warning.

I’m not in favour of a shot clock as players should be allowed some discretion after a brutal 30 shot rally after four hours on court but it really damages the spectacle when both players are operating at such a snail’s pace.

The match also featured one of the most flagrant examples of illegal coaching you’re ever likely to see when Toni Nadal leapt to his feet with the match poised at 2-2 and deuce in the third set and apparently urged his nephew to step forward in the court to return the serve.

Rafa obliged, hit his first convincing return in an age and went on to secure a vital break. Toni’s intervention arguably changed the course of the match. It’s cheating, plain and simple, and it’s rampant.

Given that it was caught on camera, Nadal will probably receive a fine but a couple of thousand dollars is hardly a deterrent when the spoils of victory are so high.

Just as disturbing was the reaction, or lack thereof, from the Eurosport commentary team and in media reports from the match. It was remarked upon but there was little in the way of real criticism, as if it’s become an accepted part of the game.

Pat Cash wrote recently about abuse of the medical time out rule. It’s just one of many. It’s time to start enforcing the rules of the game or scrap them altogether.

Berdych’s volley folly

Berdych is normally one of the better volleyers in sport but he had a bit of a horror show against Nadal.

Most notably he squandered a glorious chance for a two sets to love lead when he a pushed one into the tramlines at set point in the second set tiebreak.

It wasn’t a sitter by any means but would have been food and drink for a natural net player and was the type of chance you need to convert to get the better of a player like Nadal at this level.

Despite so many botched efforts, his stats at the net were impressive overall, which just goes to show that it’s a good tactic against Nadal once you’re prepared to accept that you will be regularly burned by miracle running passes.

It will be fascinating to see if Roger Federer is finally able to throw off the shackles in a slam match and attack the net with the regularity that the Czech did.

Nifty Nadal

Nadal injury speculation is undoubtedly the most tedious debate in modern tennis. Seriously, it’s as excruciating as it is interminable.

If you’re capable of shots like this then there’s not a whole lot wrong with your movement:

Del Potro still lacks belief

There was more evidence in his straight set defeat to Roger Federer that Juan Martin Del Potro still doesn’t believe in his ability to beat the very best once again.

Early in the second set there were a few signs that the tide was turning in his favour until serving at 1-2 in he threw in what was surely one of the most ridiculous games ever played by a top player.

It included playing an out ball, leaving an in ball, a double fault and a drop shot that screamed “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing out here.” He was finally broken by a Federer backhand winner and that was that.

Tennis is all about match-ups

Bookmakers make Roger Federer a pretty heavy favourite to beat Rafael Nadal in their semi-final encounter but I have no idea why.

The Spaniard leads the head to head at slams 7-2 and is still the worst possible match up for the Swiss world number three.

Nadal will still pummel the Federer backhand on the Rod Laver Arena’s slow, high bouncing surface and the weight of the head to head will still weigh on Federer at key moments.

I hope I’m proven wrong and Federer can at least make Nadal bring his best to beat him (which has rarely been the case in the past) but it looks like another ugly, anti-climactic and routine Nadal win to me.

Amy Bowtell (© Tennis Ireland)

Wicklow teenager Amy Bowtell started her season in style by reaching the final of the $10k ITF event in Sutton, England.

The unseeded world number 561 faced a higher ranked opponent in every round but fought her way through to a final where she came up short against top seed Richel Hogenkamp (#303) 6-3, 6-2.

The 18-year-old then put the disappointment of losing her second tour final behind her to pick up her third doubles title – partnering Quirine Lemoine of the Netherlands to victory over French pair Elixane Lechemia and Irina Ramialison in the final.

On the men’s side, it was another week of hard luck stories.

Louk Sorensen marked his recall to Ireland’s Davis Cup squad in rather typical fashion, retiring injured against Kevin Krawietz (#333) in the second round of their $10k Futures match in Stuttgart.

James McGee also picked up an injury in losing a tight encounter top seed Jerzy Janowicz (#221) in the opening round at the $15k tournament in Sheffield.

McGee went down 7-5 in the third set and was forced to withdraw from this week’s Futures event in Russia but tweeted that he should be fine for Davis Cup.

James Cluskey was another player on the wrong end of a tight scoreline in week three with he and partner Nils Desein, the top seeds, bowing out in the quarter-final of the $10k F1 Futures in France to local pair Constant Lestienne and Romain Sichez 10-8 in a match tiebreak.

As mentioned earlier, the other main news from week three was the announcement of the Davis Cup squad to face Hungary in Europe-Africa zone Group II next month.

Sorensen has been named in the side for the first time since 2009 and is joined by Conor Niland, James McGee and Sam Barry, who is called up for the first time, with Cluskey the man to miss out.

The tie will be played indoors on carpet in the southern Hungary city of Szeged and begins on February 10.

Nine days into the Australian Open and I’ve officially succumbed to time-zone induced ADD.

Last night, five set matches were just too much for me. I delved in and out of several and by the time I found one captivating enough to watch in full I was beaten by the clock – retiring to bed at around 10am with Aleksandr Dolgopolov and Bernard Tomic poised at one set all.

As a result, what follows will be completely devoid of any meaningful analysis so you should probably just save your energy and close the window now.

As I said, I only properly watched two sets of the match between Dolgopolov and Tomic but what I did see was absolutely fascinating.

There were as many sliced backhands in the match as in the rest of the tournament put together and if the two players can emerge as rival slam contenders in the years to come then the future of tennis is in good hands.

The pace of the match was refreshing with both players averaging about 15 seconds between points, regardless of scoreline or previous rally length.

If was also a pleasure to see two tactically minded players trying to outthink each other on court, though getting dragged into such a chess match was probably the Ukrainian’s downfall in the end.

Of the two, he was much more comfortable in taking control of the point and generating his own pace. The match was on his racquet but too often his concentration (and first serve) vanished on big points.

However, given that he led the head to head 3-0 prior to tonight, it’s hard to question his game plan and had he executed just a bit better on the biggest points he could have won in straight sets.

Tomic has already made figuring out how to win matches where he looks second best for long periods his trademark, and the 21-7 tiebreak record he has compiled on the main tour suggests a player who raises his level when things really matters.

While his on-court intelligence is something to admire, there is plenty to dislike about the guy and coming from someone who has displayed such an arrogant sense of entitlement so often in his young career, the incident in the first game of the fifth set wasn’t exactly a shock.

It was gamesmanship at best, downright cheating at worst. I’m leaning firmly towards the latter but judge for yourself.

You could possibly defend Tomic on the basis that it was an instinctive reaction to an out call from the crowd and that the decision thereafter was for Carlos Ramos, but it still leaves a very sour taste.

Still, the match did not hinge on that call and it would be a shame if it overshadowed the what was an enthralling match-up.

Another match I sampled was Roger Federer v Ivo Karlovic, notable for three amazing points from 5-5 in the first set tiebreak.

A superb baseline rally from Karlovic, a genius and slightly lucky get/lob from Federer, and a return winner of the type that has crushed Andy Roddick’s spirit so many times over the years.

Just watch and enjoy. (There’s more about the match over at The Next Point)

A final match to intermittently catch my attention was John Isner’s five set defeat to Feliciano Lopez.

It was a contest the Spaniard should have wrapped up in straight sets against a jaded-looking opponent but despite some major wobbles in the second and fourth sets, he never actually looked like losing.

The American clearly hadn’t recovered fully from his marathon victory over David Nalbandian and though it might seem harsh to criticise the conditioning of a player his height, he’s going to need to back up long five setters if he’s ever going to establish himself as a true contender in the second week of majors.

With his return game (or lack thereof), he’s going to be playing a hell of a lot of them for the remainder of his career.

James Duckworth

Real deal Duckworth?

Several young Australian players have generated a lot of hype in recent years but until this week, James Duckworth hasn’t been one of them.

Maybe he has and I just missed out on it but based on his performances in Melbourne he looks a real prospect.

Quite simply, he has a lot of game. As well as the pre-requisite solid movement and heavy groundstrokes, Duckworth can slice and volley.

He also possesses that dying art of a kick serve that looks like it can become a real weapon.

Those perusing the scores from day four might have raised an eyebrow when they saw that Janko Tipsarevic needed four sets to get past a 250-ranked 19-year-old, but make no mistake, it was a highly impressive performance from the Serbian ninth seed. It had to be.

Aside from his game, Duckworth’s tour itinerary from 2011 also points to a promising future.

Rather than stay in the comfort zone of the Australian Futures and Challenger circuit, Duckworth spent the middle of the year in European clay Futures events before trying his luck on the South American Challenger scene in October and November.

The latter part of his voyage yielded virtually nothing in terms of points and prize money but it showed a player willing to take some risks and learn the game the hard way.

It will be fascinating to see how he fares back in such low key dog-eat-dog events in the coming months. After playing in front of thousands on a Melbourne show court, it will be quite the come down.

Gil makes history

Frederico Gil

By beating Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers in Melbourne, Frederico Gil becomes the first ever Portuguese man to reach the third round of a slam. Parabéns to that guy. He plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last 32.

Ito doesn’t

Tatsuma Ito

Japanese tennis would have broken new ground with two men in the third round of a slam for the first time if not for a pretty horrendous choke by Tatsuma Ito against Nicolas Mahut.

A retirement looked on the cards when the Frenchman, hampered by knee and quad trouble, looked down and out at 1-6, 1-4 but he somehow forced a second set tiebreak, helped by a dreadful miss from Ito on break point at 5-5.

Ito looked to have regained his composure when he raced to 6-2 lead in the breaker but he suddenly became a ball of nerves, dropping six consecutive points.

It was as good as over after that with Mahut undergoing a seemingly miraculous transformation, serving and moving freely again for the first time in the match as he booked a third round tie against top seed Novak Djokovic.

Bogey buggers it up

Alex Bogomolov Jr

There was no stream for Alex Bogomolov’s five set defeat to Michael Llodra so it’s hard to say definitively if there was a choke involved.

However, when you fight back from two sets down and then lead by a break not once, not twice, but three times in a decider against a player not exactly renowned for his stamina or return game it seems pretty inexcusable.

A glorious chance to prove his detractors wrong by living up to his seeding was wasted.

Incompetent Kader and Demented Dave

I think I need therapy. As a long-time Davd Nalbandian fan you’d think I’d be used to him blowing matches he has no right to lose but it doesn’t get any easier.

That disgusting officiating played such a significant part in his marathon 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 8-10 defeat John Isner makes it all the more difficult to swallow.

They say a good referee should be invisible but Kader Nouni was anything but with two horrific calls in the space of a minute at 8-8 and deuce in the fifth set.

The first was his decision to overrule a John Isner serve that was correctly called out by lines judge.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, he then refused to allow Nalbandian to refer his incompetence to Hawkeye, claiming that the player had taken too long to come to a decision.

From the initial call, twenty seconds passed until Nalbandian’s decision to challenge, but in the noise and confusion neither player was sure what had just happened and it was Isner who attempted to refer the call to Hawkeye first.

Following his conversation with Nouni to clarify what the call was and who had made it, Nalbandian inspected the mark and took eight seconds to challenge. Eight seconds.

Not an outrageous length of time by any means but after nearly five hours on court, surely within a reasonable timeframe.

By making himself the centre of attention, Nouni showed incompetence of the highest order and dealt a devastating blow to the Argentinean with the match on a knife-edge.

Nalbandian afterwards had the good grace to credit Isner rather than Nouni for the loss but he had already shown that he was entirely capable of grasping defeat from the jaws of victory all on his own.

He blew a break lead early in the second set, failed to capitalise on an early chance for a minibreak in the fourth set tiebreak but most importantly of all, squandered two glorious chances on virtual match points in that fateful 8-8 game.

What happened thereafter was entirely predictable, with the weight of the missed chances, scoreboard pressure and Isner’s huge returns taking their toll on Nalbandian as he was broken to lose a match he really had no right to lose.

John Isner: The Good the Bad and the Ugly

While last night’s match match showed us the best and worst of David Nalbandian, it also showed us both sides of John Isner.

Against similarly one-dimensional players, there’s nothing too out of the ordinary about the lanky yank’s game but against an artist like Nalbandian his limitations are harshly exposed.

It’s Stoke City against Barcelona, a Damien Hirst bovine carcass next to a Caravaggio, a Twilight novel against The Old Man and the Sea.

His tennis is ugly and there’s no getting away from it.

Unlike fellow giant Ivo Karlovic, Isner doesn’t even possess the saving aesthetic grace of a net game and when he beats a player like Nalbandian in such fashion it’s an awful result for the sport.

However, you can’t help but admire him for making the best of what he has got and his courage last night was phenomenal.

He played an almost-flawless tiebreak to stay in the match and once again, as his physical condition got worse, his serve just got better and better.

He also deserves credit for respecting the cramp rule rather than passing it off as a muscular “injury” and seeking medical treatment – as is practically the norm nowadays.

John Isner: Great guy, grotesque game.

Mardy the Moody Mug

Mardy Fish getting a bee in his bonnet about opponents supposedly abusing medical time out rules is hardly anything new.

In the midst of one such tantrum against Paul-Henri Mathieu he remarked that he lost an Olympic gold medal because someone ( Nicolas Massu) “took a twenty fuckin’ minute bathroom break then called the trainer again.”

He also went on to say, “It’s bullshit. They do it all the time.”

Now just who “they” are in Mardy’s mind is anyone’s guess but he certainly seems to have a chip on his shoulder when it comes to time out rules.

In his straight set defeat to Alejandro Falla, Fish objected to the Colombian receiving treatment for what he perceived as cramp and he wasn’t shy about letting the umpire know about it.

The problem for Fish is that when his anger levels rise, his level of play drops proportionately.

He’s never been able to use his boorish outbursts as motivation and as a veteran on tour you’d think he would have learned his lesson by now.

Think of his other most recent tantrums – against Grigor Dimitrov at the Hopman Cup and at the US Open last year against Jo Wilfried Tsonga. When he loses his temper, he loses the match. And makes himself look like a classless idiot in the process.

Such immaturity in a guy his age is inexcusable and it’s about time he grew up.

Breaking with Baggy

I didn’t see the match but this is spectacular. Completely batshit insane, but spectacular nonetheless.

No slam hat-trick for Conor Niland

There wasn’t a whole lot to cheer about for the Irish contingent in week two.

At the Australian Open, Conor Niland failed to make it three slams on the bounce when he lost to Switzerland’s Stephane Bohli in the first round of qualifiers.

The Limerick man broke his opponent in the opening game of their rain-interrupted match but handed the initiative right back before eventually succumbing 6-3 in a marathon 71 minute set.

The second set was a more routine affair for Bohli with the Swiss number four taking it 6-2 in 37 minutes.

Louk Sorensen could have joined Niland in Melbourne had he entered qualifying but instead chose to play a $10k Futures event in Schwieberdingen, Germany.

He reached the semi-finals before losing to Britain’s Josh Goodall 7-6 (12), 7-6 (3) and picks up a mere six ranking points for his troubles.

Sorensen had four set points in the first set breaker but ran into an opponent who in his own words, played off his absolute face and went on to take the title with a win against Bastian Knittel in the final.

I can only hope Goodall wasn’t drug tested afterwards but maybe being off your face means something different in England.

At the $15 Futures in Glasgow, James McGee was another victim of a two tiebreak defeat as he bowed out at the first hurdle to Clement Reix of France while former Davis Cup player George McGill player fell in the first round of qualies, two weeks shy of his 35^th birthday

It was a similar story for James Cluskey in doubles as he and partner Alexandre Sidorenko (the fourth seeds) were on the wrong end of a five and six loss to Brit duo Lewis Burton and Dan Evans in the second round.

Oh well. There’s no point in peaking too early and the transition from a heavy pre-season fitness program to competitive matches is always a tricky one.

Onwards and upwards.

Matteo "Lazarus" Viola

Miracle Matteo

When Matteo Viola trailed Dusan Lajovic 5-0 and 40-0* in the third set of his first round qualifying match in Melbourne, a place in the main draw must have seemed light years away.

With seemingly no way back, he dug out a hold, saving a total of five match points in that game.

By the time he had ground out an 8-6 victory in the third set, a total of nine match points had been fought off. Poor Lajovic probably hasn’t slept since.

Viola’s second round encounter wasn’t much easier and he faced another two match points at 6-7, 3-5, *15-40 against Antonio Veic . He needed an umpire’s overrule to escape on one, but again turned things around to prevail 6-4 in the third.

The Italian’s final match was a relative cakewalk given that he only came within three points of defeat. South Africa’s Rik De Voest led a set and a break at 6-4, 4-3 but but the battling 24-year-old pulled through 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 to complete a quite incredible route to his first slam main draw.

Gojo the Great

Peter Gojowczyk (© Tim Schuler)

There’s a hard way and there’s an easy way. In contrast to Viola, Peter Gojowczyk completely breezed through qualification.

Despite being unseeded and rated by bookmakers as an underdog in his final two matches, the 22-year old dropped just nine games to qualify, obliterating second seed Grega Zemlja and Thiemo De Bakker in the process.

Based on his performances so far, a third round encounter with Rafael Nadal looks a real possibility for the young German.

Murray has some company

James Ward

With his victory against Igor Sijsling, James Ward became the first Brit to successfully negotiate qualifying for a slam since Chris Eaton at Wimbledon in 2008.

Earlier that year Jamie Baker qualified at the Australian Open and so for the first time since then, Great Britain will have two men in the main draw of a slam outside Wimbledon.

The best of the rest

Freddie Nielsen

Popular Dane Freddie Nielsen finally qualified for his first slam main draw at the ripe old age of 28 and will play Kevin Anderson in the opening round.

Denis Kudla, runner up in the boy’s singles at the US Open in 2010, ousted Carsten Ball to reach his first slam as a pro while his fellow Ukraine-born American Alex Kuznetsov will be appearing in his first main draw since the US Open in 2007.

Danai Udomchoke made his mark at the event in 2007 when he took out Juan Carlos Ferrero before losing to Novak Djokovic in an entertaining third round four setter. The injury-plagued Thai saw off Peter Polansky of Canada with relative ease to secure his place.

Finally, Conor Niland failed in his bid to make it three slams in a row when he went out in the first round to Switzerland’s Stephane Bohli while former Melbourne finalists Rainer Schuettler and Arnaud Clement both failed to make the grade, bowing out to Bjorn Phau and Alexandre Kudryavstev in rounds one and two respectively.

With both former finalists planning to retire in 2012, it seems unlikely that either will again grace the venue of their finest career achievement.

Retire?

The slumming slam finalists

Eleven years ago, Frenchman Arnaud Clement came back from the dead to beat compatriot Sebastien Grosjean in five sets and reach his lone slam final. He was destroyed by Andre Agassi in straight sets but it remains the biggest result of his career.

Two years later, Rainer Schuettler upset Andy Roddick in the semi-finals to record what was also his only appearance in a major decider. He suffered a similar fate to Clement, getting blown away by an inspired Agassi.

The two veterans have put in a lot of miles since then but both deserve credit for sticking around this long to slum it out in the qualies.

Schuettler opens his qualifying bid against Chris Guccione in the stand-out tie of the first round while Clement starts against another veteran German, Bjorn Phau.

It’s a hell of a long road to the final.

New kids on the block

Jiri Vesely (© Zimbio)

Jiri Vesely won the Boy’s Singles title in Melbourne last year and the Czech lefty makes his pro slam debut here.

The 18-year-old arrives in good form having won his first Futures title in China last week and looks capable of getting the better of Kamil Capkovic in the first round.

Another youngster to look out for is Guilherme Clezar of Brazil who just turned eighteen on New Year’s Eve.

He reached the quarter-finals of the Boy’s event last year and already has four Futures titles to his name. However, he faces a tough first round match against Alex Kuznetsov and is unlikely to progress further.

Irish eyes

Conor Niland has been handed a tough draw as he bids to qualify for his third slam on the spin.

He opens his account against Stephane Bohli of Switzerland, who arrives in Melbourne match tough having won three matches to qualify for the main draw in Auckland over the weekend.

They met once before in 2010 with Bohli securing an easy 6-2, 6-1 win, but given it was played on clay it will have little relevance here.

The bookies make the Swiss a clear favourite but should Niland overturn the odds, he is likely to face tenth seed Malek Jaziri in round two.

While the Tunisian is one of the in-form players in the draw, Niland will fancy his chances having secured a straight sets win in their Davis Cup encounter last July.

Possible final round opponents include Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus (head to head 1-1) and Jurgen Zopp of Estonia.

Niland will have to produce his best to complete his hattrick but can take a lot of confidence from his efforts in SW19 and Flushing Meadows last year.

Interestingly, Louk Sorensen’s protected ranking would have been enough to get him into the draw but he opted to play a Futures event in Germany this week instead.

Betting for insomniacs

Malek Jaziri: Would you trust this man with your hard earned cash? (© Zimbio)

What better way to spend a night than watching a tennis live stream as your money vanishes?

Some solid looking underdogs include Denis Kudla over gangly Serb Nikola Ciric (2.2), the aforementioned Vesely over Capkovic (2.05) and cult hero Jimmy Wang over Izak Van der Merwe (3.0).

A patriotic punt on Conor Niland would also be value at 3.05 if I didn’t fear jinxing him.

For those of you into short priced accumulators, Ricardas Berankis (1.14), Malek Jaziri (1.48), David Goffin (1.4), Jan Hernych (1.48), Dusan Lajovic (1.5), Michael Yani (1.75) and Alex Kuznetsov (1.33) look like names for consideration.

Shank Tennis takes no responsibility for lost earnings, mental injuries or broken goods/relationships that may result from following previous picks.

Happy punting.