Day 4 matches to watch

It's going to be tough to top last night. The Blake-Del Potro match was a thriller, and the Henin-Dementieva match did feel more like a semi than a 2nd round. And even though the players I picked in both came up short in the end, it was great to be able to watch such high-level tennis played between two pairs of great competitors. And big props to JDMP and Justine Henin, who proved to be just a hair tougher in the pressure situations than their opponents. Best night of the tournament so far (out of three!) no question.

I've said it before, but I really hope that Blake is encouraged by this loss, since he laid it all on the line and showed that he can still play. It sucks that somebody had to walk away from that match a loser, but there's no reason he can't get his ranking back to top-20 this year, if he plays like that.

Great effort by John Isner as well, to come through against a scrappy (if inexperienced opponent) in straight sets, giving him the maximum amount of time to rest before he faces Gael Monfils in the next round. You better believe that's going to make my write up for day 5.

Since I was exhausted from the concurrent, epic matches that took place early last night, I didn't manage to stay up and watch any of the Tomic-Cilic match, but I was shocked to see Cilic stretched to five sets by the Aussie. Maybe there's something behind all the hype, after all.

After all that, it's almost inevitable to feel a bit of a letdown tonight, when there are some good matches scheduled but nothing that immediately jumps out as a contender for the excitement that we had on day 3. But who knows? That's why we play the tennis.

Lleyton Hewitt v. Donald Young - I've talked about "The Donald" before, and I really do think he has the talent to make a career on the pro circuit. I don't know what he's been doing in the off-season, but making it through three rounds of quallies and then beating a solid top-100 player like Christophe Rochus is encouraging. Of course, that doesn't mean he has much of a shot against a former world number one in his own backyard. Hewitt played very well in his first match, and he's beaten Young before. But this has potential not to be a blowout.

Marcos Baghdatis v. David Ferrer - This was originally going to be Baghdatis-Simon before the Frenchman's withdrawal, which I thought would have been a slam dunk for the Cypriot. But since Gilles was replaced with the Spanish Pit Bull, it looks like it will be tougher, as Baghdatis has yet to take a set off Ferrer in their two meetings. At the moment, only 13 places separate these two in the rankings. I think either one could conceivably come out on top, and it should be a fun ride on the way. One of the matches with the best chances for fireworks.

Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga v. Taylor Dent - Both of these players cruised in their first-round matches, but I think it's fair to bet that this round will be more challenging. Just based on experience and recent performance, you'd think that this match would go to Tsonga in a rout, but "Ali" has had trouble with big servers in the past, and Dent can serve like 2003-era Roddick when he gets in a groove. This is going to be as much a boxing match as a tennis match, so expect lots of big hitting.

I don't think that they're going to be particularly exciting matches, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Williams sisters, who have found themselves on the second court today. They really shouldn't see this as a slight, though, since the two women's matches on Rod Laver arena today feature Australians. And pushing them off to the second stage is just an indication of the tournament's belief that both of those matches are going to be blowouts, and there's no reason for me to disagree. Watch out, Bammer and Kvitova.

The last possibility I have for a crackerjack match is between veteran player Tommy Haas and the Serbian question mark Janko "Tipsy" Tipsarevic. You never know what kind of game Tipsarevic is going to bring to the court, but if he brings his best, this one could be fun. Also, did you know that Germany (where Haas is from) has more singles players remaining in the tournament than any other country at this point? For a country that hasn't produced a grand slam winner since Boris Becker and Steffi Graf, that's a good showing.