Australian Open: Men's Second Week Preview

Roger Federer (1) v Lleyton Hewitt (22)
Nikolay Davydenko (6) v Fernando Verdasco (9)
Novak Djokovic (3) v Lukasz Kubot
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10) v Nicolas Almagro

Andy Roddick USA (7) v Fernando Gonzalez CHI (11)
Juan Martin Del Potro ARG (4) v Marin Cilic CRO (14)
Andy Murray GBR (5) v John Isner USA (33)
Rafael Nadal ESP (2) v Ivo Karlovic CRO

The men's draw has been holding to form as 9 of the top 10 players have made it through. Andy Murray is the highest seed to not have lost a single set, but the top four above him have shown grit and moments of brilliance.

Speaking of Murray, he seems to be heading into a blockbuster quarterfinal match with defending champion Nadal. Both of them have to get through big servers. In the same half, Roddick and Del Potro look to meet in the quarterfinals. Nursing an injury, Del Potro has yet to find his top form and will be severely tested by Cilic.

In the top half, it's all about the potential quartefinal matchups between Federer-Davydenko and Djokovic-Tsonga. The latter will be a rematch of the 2008 Australian Open final while Federer tries to stop the string of losses he has against Davydenko. Federer will also need to get through the Russian (and of course Hewitt first) to extend his Grand Slam semifinals streak.

Prediction: I'm not going to change my initial predictions from last week. Roger Federer will beat Novak Djokovic while Rafael Nadal will beat Andy Roddick. Federer and Nadal will then go head to head with a rematch of last year's final except with Federer coming out on top.