3...2...1...

The ball may have already dropped to ring in the New Year, but we're still a couple days away from the official start of the 2015 tennis season. And with last year's champions looking to continue their momentum, former greats hoping for a successful return and a couple newbies seeking their big breaks, you know we're going to see some top-notch action from the start.

Of course it won't be full steam ahead for everyone -- Juan Martin Del Potro delayed his comeback and pulled out of Brisbane, while a couple players who entered exhibitions at International Premier League events ultimately withdrew from early tournaments too. And even those who did hit the court again struggled -- Rafael Nadal, playing his first match since an appendectomy in November, won just two games off Andy Murray at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships this week. Results like these could open the door to plenty others.

The only woman who's ever won the title in Shenzhen won't be back to defend, of course, and top tier champs like Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova will be eager to fill her spot. But they're not the only ones -- last year's runner-up Shaui Peng had a strong end to her 2014 season and could get a nice boost from homecourt advantage. And Zarina Diyas, who quietly climbed to #33 in the world, got to the final in Osaka in October and could take a couple in the field here by surprise. But I'm going to keep an eye on Vera Zvonareva, whose comeback last year was half-hearted at best. If she's fully recovered now, she might be ready to cause some of the damage we all know she's capable of.

The women's bracket in Brisbane is a little more intimidating with eight top twenty players hitting the courts in Australia. Singapore qualifiers Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic lead the pack but the biggest surprises could come from some unseeded spoilers. Hometown favorite Sam Stosur launched a late-season comeback last year, reaching the semis in Beijing and taking her third title in Osaka, and 2014 runner-up Victoria Azarenka, who's coming off her first trophy-less season since 2008, will look to make up points right off the bat. But perhaps the player with the greatest chance of shaking things up is Karolina Pliskova who won the Girls' title in Melbourne back in 2010 -- in September she made the final in Hong Kong and followed up that run with titles in Seoul and Linz. She was an alternate at the Tournament of Champions in Sofia and lost the only match she played, but with wins over players like Andrea Petkovic, Angelique Kerber and Ana Ivanovic over the last twelve months, she certainly has the talent to take out the big guns.

There's plenty star power in the men's draw too -- Roger Federer, my player of the year, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic all are coming off breakthrough seasons, but potential threats lurk even deeper in the draw. Alexandr Dolgopolov, whose own stellar 2014 was cut short by knee surgery in July, will be back in action -- he only won one match since his return in Tokyo last September, but it was over an always-tricky Gilles Simon, and he might finally be up for even bigger challenges now. And native son Lleyton Hewitt snatched this title from Fed last year -- he may be well off his career high ranking at #50 in the world, but he's one of those guys that never gives up. Perhaps the same can be said for compatriot Bernard Tomic, who briefly fell out of the top hundred last year after a second round loss at Wimbledon. He may not be at the top of his game these days, but he did manage a runner's-up finish in Sydney in 2014 -- admittedly one win short of his previous result -- and he shocked everyone with a title run in Bogota over the summer. Somehow, it seems, every time we write him off, he manages to pull off a big win.

Over in Chennai, Stan Wawrinka will look to reclaim the crown that launched him into the sport's elite, but players like 2014 standoutRoberto Bautista Agut and comeback kid David Goffin will be out to derail his plans. So will some of last year's most promising young guns -- Jiri Vesely had quite a strong start to last season, and Borna Coric who stunned Rafael Nadal last year in Basel, is just a hair out of the top hundred now and seems primed to climb much higher. But I'd like nothing more than to see Feliciano Lopez to make a big run here. The likely-second seed is coming off a banner 2014 season, reaching a career-high #14 ranking and notching wins over Nadal, Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic -- he hasn't won a hardcourt title since 2010, but the thirty-three year old veteran has shown he has what it takes to put an end to that stretch.

More than a couple stars made their way out to Doha too -- defending champion Rafael Nadal and world #1 Novak Djokovic may headline, but a couple former top ten players could also make a stand. Fernando Verdasco finished 2014 at his lowest year-end ranking since 2006 and will look to turn things back around, and fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, playing his first event since pulling out of his French Open first round, could rack up a couple of much needed points to improve his #71 ranking before heading down to Melbourne. But also look out for Ernests Gulbis, whose shoulder injury kept him off the alternate list in London -- he really slowed down after his surprise semifinal appearance at Roland Garros, but he's got the kind of game that can really catch the favorites off guard, and it might just be the perfect time to show us exactly what he can do.

It's hard to say who'll ultimately come out on top this tennis season, but the good thing about each new year is that everyone starts off with a clean slate. Whether the old favorites continue their reigns or some upstarts make a push into the elite, we're certainly in for some great action over the coming months. And it all kicks off in just a few more days...

Slideshow: 2014 U.S. Open Women's Semifinalists

Diamonds in the Rough

Things sure got crazy over the weekend didn't they?

Only one of the top eight seeds on the women's side has made it to the quarterfinals and, though all the men who've won Majors over the last nine years -- at least those who were entered in the U.S. Open -- are still going strong, we nevertheless have some unfamiliar faces hanging around at the start of Week Two. And a couple players still standing have quite an opportunity to shine even brighter.

Serena Williams, not surprisingly, continues to dominate the top half of the ladies' draw, but she's joined by a couple players you might not have expected to see still hanging around. Two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka has been struggling with injury all year, and has only played in a handful of events this season. With early losses in Stanford and Montreal, and a withdrawal from Cincinnati, which she won last year, the sixteenth seed was a long shot at best. But she powered through early matches and last night, withstood a first set meltdown against Serbian Cinderella Aleksandra Krunic, sneaking out a win in over two-and-a-half hours of play. But perhaps the biggest story here is Ekaterina Makarova, a highly underrated Russian who quietly came to New York at her highest ever ranking -- she beat Aga Radwanska on her way to the Wimbledon quarters, beat Petra Kvitova in Montreal, and perhaps most importantly, is the only woman standing who's beaten Serena at a Slam. In yesterday's sweltering heat she outlasted a struggling Genie Bouchard, ending the Canadian's streak of three Major semis. She has a decent record against Vika, having won two of their five meetings, and with the relatively easier road so far, she might be able to even the score.

The bottom half of the bracket is a little more open with only two of the four remaining having ever even played in a Major final -- they both lost. Meanwhile, Shuai Peng is riding high after her second round upset of Aga Radwanska, taking out Roberta Vinci and Wimbledon semifinalist Lucie Safarova to make her first Slam quarter. She'll take on former Junior #1, seventeen-year old Belinda Bencic, who's playing her first year's worth of Major main draws. The youngest player in the top hundred, she's already beaten Angelique Kerber and my dark horse pick Jelena Jankovic -- there's no reason she can't pull off another upset today. But perhaps the player with the clearest path to the final is former world #1 Caroline Wozniacki, who's put together quite a successful summer -- she won her twenty-second career title in Istanbul and took sets off Serena in both Montreal and Cincinnati. Sunday she scored a huge upset over Maria Sharapova to reach her first Slam quarterfinal since 2012 -- she'll take on Sara Errani for a spot in the semis, avoiding potential match-ups with Simona Halep or Venus Williams, and could easily go on further.

On the men's side, the brackets are still stacked with three former Grand Slam champions occupying four of the spots in the top half of the draw. Novak Djokovic, despite a questionable performance during the summer, has yet to lose a set in New York, and Stan Wawrinka, the newest member of the Major Winners club, survived a bit of a scare against veteran Tommy Robredo last night, but is in good shape to make it back to the semis. Meanwhile 2012 champion Andy Murray, who shockingly hasn't won a title yet this year, seems to have finally found his game again and scored his first top-ten win of the season with a straight set win yesterday over Toronto champ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. But of course the big story in this half is that of Kei Nishikori, whose five-set, four-plus hour marathon against fifth seeded Milos Raonic last night earned him his first U.S. Open quarterfinal. The man from Japan had already notched wins over Gael Monfils, David Ferrer and Roger Federer this year, and while he'll have a little more to recover from, he might just be able to add one more scalp to his trophy case.

Of course, the biggest question marks remain in the bottom half of the bracket, where three top ten seeds -- including one five-time champion -- are still standing, but it's the lower-ranked players that are making the biggest waves. Spain's Roberto-Bautista Agut continues his breakthrough year with a run to the fourth round -- he'll take on second seeded Roger Federer for a spot in his first Major quarterfinal in tonight's late match. Perhaps, though, France's Gilles Simon has a slightly better chance at advancing -- the former top ten player crushed David Ferrer in their third round on Sunday, and though he'll be the on-paper underdog against Marin Cilic today, he has a decisive 4-0 record against the Croat. But the biggest opportunity in this half lies with this year's ATP standout Dominic Thiem, who's climbed from a ranking of #139 to start the year to #45 now. The young Austrian beat Simon at Indian Wells, Wawrinka in Madrid, and got to the final in Kitzbühel. He's already taken out two seeds so far in New York, and with a fourth round date with a recently struggling Tomas Berdych today, he could add one more to that list. Thiem turns twenty-one tomorrow, after all, so he might as well give himself something to celebrate.

There's still a lot of play left to go at the U.S. Open, of course, and while the tried-and-true champions have stayed on top of their game so far this fortnight, it might just be dark horses that take the second week of the tournament by storm. Whether they're shaking off the cobwebs or just finding their footing on the big stage, these stars seem to have really tapped into their potential in New York. And it sure would be great to see them really shine.

Shaking Things Up

Things sure got intense at the U.S. Open the last few days, didn't they? After a Day One that saw only a couple notable upsets, we've now seen a total of nineteen seeds -- and counting -- sent home, including two top ten women and a handful of Grand Slam champions. And while many of the true favorites are still alive and kicking, there are plenty of others who could sneak through.

Novak Djokovic has spent only two hours on court for his first two matches, and though he came to New York looking a little lethargic, he seems to have shaken off any spiderwebs. But his next opponent, Sam Querrey, could pose his biggest challenge yet. The former top twenty player stunned Nole in the Paris Masters a few years back and, though, well off the highs of his career, is coming off a semifinal showing in Winston-Salem and a win here over twenty-eighth seed Guillermo Garcia Lopez. But he's not the biggest threat in the top half of the men's draw -- upstart Nick Kyrgios, vanquisher of Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, continued his coming out party by notching wins over both Mikhail Youzhny and Andreas Seppi. He could give fourth round opponent Tommy Robredo -- who was pushed to five sets on Thursday -- a run for the money. But the real sleeper here might be Leonardo Mayer, seeded at a Major for the first time in his career. The Argentine benefited from a retirement by Albert Montanes in his opener, but hasn't dropped a set yet -- while Kei Nishikori certainly won't be a pushover in his next round, the twenty-seven year old might just be primed to pull off an upset.

We don't have as much evidence for the bottom half of the bracket -- most of the guys in it have only played one match so far at the Open this year. Five-time champion Roger Federer is still on track for a quarterfinal meeting with Grigor "Baby Fed" Dimitrov, but Gael Monfils, who's scored wins over both in the recent past, might be able to prevent that. The French showman won the first two sets off Andy Murray at Roland Garros and pushed Roger to three in Cincinnati earlier this month -- he's climbed back into the top thirty this year and seems ready to jump even higher. But the bigger opportunities for dark horses lie in the David Ferrer/Tomas Berdych quarter -- Kevin Anderson, who barely squeaked out of his opening round had a relatively easier time Friday against big serving Jerzy Janowicz. He'll face 2009 quarterfinalist Marin Cilic for a spot in the fourth round -- the Croat has long been one of the most underrated players on Tour and, the way the draw's opened up, might have an even better shot than Anderson to make an impact here.

Of course, as should be expected, the ladies' bracket is where things really got screwy. Two-time defending champion Serena Williams seems well on her way to capturing title #6 in New York, dropping just a handful of games through her first two rounds, while Victoria Azarenka, runner-up in both 2012 and 2013, seems like she's turning around a disappointing season. And Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova, traditionally an early loser at the Open, has won twelve straight sets the last two weeks, reclaiming the title in New Haven in the process. Still, with 2011 titleist Sam Stosur bowing out to tough-as-nails Kaia Kanepi and recently rising Ana Ivanovic getting shocked by former Juniors champion Karolina Pliskova yesterday, there are a couple openings. Both of these victors have winnable third round matches, and could add some new blood to the later rounds. But we can't count out world #48 Zarina Diyas who endured an emotionally trying match late last night -- with the crowd unanimously behind teen sensation Cici Bellis in their second round, the Kazakh stayed tough after losing seven games in a row to hold on for the win. She'll meet Ekaterina Makarova in her first U.S. Open third round, and though the Russian has had some big wins here in the past, Diyas might just be able to keep adrenaline on her side.

The bottom half of the women's draw also has plenty of room for surprises. Second seed Simona Halep, one of the most consistent players at the Slams this year, is still alive, but looks spotty -- she dropped her opening set to collegiate star Danielle Collins and is being challenged now by veteran Mirjana Lucic. Other players, though, are looking more solid. Shuai Peng, who rolled over world #5 Agnieszka Radwanska on Wednesday, pulled off another one-sided victory today against 2012 quarterfinalist Roberta Vinci. She doesn't have a great record against either of her next two possible opponents, but playing some of the best tennis of her career, she could change that now. But watch out also for former world #1 Jelena Jankovic, who reached her only Grand Slam final here a long six years ago. She's faced three tough opponents already and hasn't dropped serve yet, needing less than an hour to dispatch Johanna Larsson earlier today. She's slated to face a resurgent Angelique Kerber next, but the one-time semifinalist has just lost her first set to teenager Belinda Bencic. Either way, though, JJ's playing the kind of ball that could get her noticed again.

We've gotten to that point at the U.S. Open where it's time for the players who've caused upsets to prove they're no fluke, and for those who've delivered wins so far to capitalize on any opportunity they get. Sure, the top seeds are going to do their best to swat away any threats -- but if these guys and gals keep up their games, things could look very different from what we expect as we get into Week Two.

Asia Rising

For occupying almost a third of the world's land mass, Asia doesn't get a lot of love from the tennis world.

The Australian Open, technically on a whole different continent, is referred to as the Asian Slam, the first Chinese woman cracked the top ten barely four years ago, and just in May Kei Nishikori became the only man from Japan ranked in single digits.

But a relatively new series of WTA tournaments showcases the region and its players, many of whom don't qualify for main draws at Tour-level events and spend most of their time on the ITF circuit. This week in Nanchang, the first stop on this year's WTA 125K schedule, only one player is ranked in the top fifty and the eight seeds were rounded out by world #168 Yuliya Beygelzimer. And when you look at the slate of athletes still standing, you may notice something more than how few names you recognize -- every single one of the quarterfinalists hails from Asia itself, and any of them has an opportunity to put their continent on the map in a very big way.

Of course the seeds probably have the best shot at making at statement. Shuai Peng, well off her career high ranking of #14 in the world, opened the year with a run to the Shenzhen final and beat Maria Kirilenko to make the fourth round at Wimbledon, matching her best performance at a Major. And Misaki Doi may have added only one ITF title to her mantel in 2014, but she's quietly become the #2 ranked player in Japan and could parlay a nice run here into greater success on the WTA down the road.

But keep an eye out for even lesser known players in Nanchang too. Fangzhou Liu was up a set and a break on two-time Slam semifinalist Jie Zheng when her opponent retired, but backed up the free pass with a straight set win over Slovenia's Nastja Kolar a round later. And Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum was ranked just inside the top hundred when she pulled off the upset of her career this past January -- playing in just her second Australian Open, she took out sixth seed Petra Kvitova in her opening round. She hasn't matched the glory of that win yet this year, but the fourth seed this week might just be the most likely dark horse in the field.

Only one of the previous six WTA 125K events was won by an Asian -- Shuai Zhang took the title in Nanjing last October -- but this week we're guaranteed to add another to the list. Of course, it's not like any of these ladies would be the first from Asia to take home a WTA title, but success here could open the doors for them on much bigger stages. And in a truly global sport like tennis, we're all better served by sharing the love.

End With a Bang

The women's tennis season officially wrapped up today as the final balls were hit at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions. And while the field contesting the title boasted some of the most impressive records on Tour, the ultimate outcome was probably not what many expected.

The top seeds in Bali were mostly occupied with some of the most successful athletes. Marion Bartoli just missed gaining full entry to the year-end championships held last week in Istanbul, but got in one round robin win as a wildcard. Sabine Lisicki came back from an injury-filled 2010 to take two titles and put up career-best showings at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. And twenty-eight year old Roberta Vinci put together her most trophy-filled year, capturing a career-best three crowns herself. But only Lisicki made it out of the first round, and a low back injury forced her to retire late in her semifinal match.

Taking advantage of the German's bad luck -- and, incidentally, Bartoli's a round earlier -- was Anabel Medina Garrigues, the surprise winner in both Estoril and Palermo. They were the first events she'd won since 2009 and helped her climb back into the top thirty. She's been a little quiet in the second half of the year, but by hanging in just a little longer than her opponents this weekend, she made her first final since July.

The bottom half of the draw had a few more surprises, but at least all the matches were fully played out. College Park champion Nadia Petrova, once ranked #3 in the world, avenged previous losses to second-seeded wildcard Shuai Peng this year, and defending titleist Ana Ivanovic reversed her recent losses to Vinci to score the win in just over an hour. The semifinal match on Saturday was similarly straightforward as the Serb got the better of her long-time rival, further improving her slight head-to-head lead over the Russian.

It was the first final Ivanovic had reached this year, and though she had dropped a few spots from her high ranking of 2011, she was nevertheless hanging with the big girls again. She'd beating Jelena Jankovic in Indian Wells and took Kim Clijsters to a third set tiebreak in Miami -- just a few weeks back in Beijing she beat both Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva to make the semis. And she brought that momentum with her to Sunday's championship match, dominating her service games and breaking Medina Garrigues four times during the match. With the win, her only title of the year, she may not make a big move up the rankings, but she will at least gain confidence to play even better when she kicks of 2012.

And with the way her competition is playing these days, that confidence can only be to her advantage.

Young Bloods and Old Hat

Watching coverage of the U.S. Open in the States, you'd think the only people playing here are upstart Americans.

It's a common yet understandable mistake we media makes, especially in an age where we're salivating for The Next Big Thing to emerge in our sport. But while some new faces are the ones grabbing headlines, other tried-and-true veterans -- from many countries of origin -- are quietly sneaking through the draws and could be ready to pounce in Week Two.

That's not to discount the achievements of my young countrymen and women. Donald Young, long touted as a member of the future elite, pulled off his biggest win at a Major when he beat world #14 Stanislas Wawrinka earlier today. And eighteen-year-old Sloane Stephens highlighted her first two Slam wins by defeating twenty-third seed Shahar Peer on Thursday, while Christina McHale took her rightful place in the spotlight when she played a night session on Arthur Ashe in her third round versus Maria Kirilenko.

The top seeds, of course, have mostly advanced without drama, the only exception being Maria Sharapova's surprising upset by a suddenly resurgent Flavia Pennetta this afternoon. And former champions -- Serena Williams, Juan Martin Del Potro -- have barely sweat in the past few days, and not just because the late August New York weather has been so beautifully mild. But these aren't necessarily the biggest stories of the fortnight either. So let's take a look at the players no one is watching.

Shuai Peng was the surprise stand-out in Melbourne where, while ranked #54 in the world, she stunned Jelena Jankovic in the second round and nearly took out Aggie Radwanska two matches later. She's since climbed into the top twenty and notched wins over players like Francesca Schiavone, Na Li and Vera Zvonareva. She hasn't lost a set yet in New York and earlier today stopped Julia Goerges's deepest USO run in under two hours. She next faces giant-killer Pennetta, a woman who's beaten her in their last four meetings, but that was when she was a much different player. And with the draws opened up so much now, there's no reason she can't keep it up.

To do so, though, she may eventually have to make it past 2010 French Open finalist Sam Stosur who, after a three-plus battle with Nadia Petrova Friday night, earned her way to her second straight fourth round in Flushing Meadows. Since climbing all the way to #4 in the world, the Australian's been pretty quiet this year, but has had strokes of brilliance, losing finals in Rome and Toronto to previous Grand Slam champions. She dominated both Sofia Arvidsson and Coco Vandeweghe in the early rounds, but really shone against the Russian, coming back from a break down in the third to finally secure the win. Hopefully she won't be too worn down when she takes on Kirilenko in the next match -- she could be the surprise contender for this title.

On the men's side David Ferrer leads the second tier of power players. A semifinalist here in 2007, he's already won two titles and three runner's-up trophies this year. He beat Milos Raonic and Rafael Nadal in Australia and climbed his way back to his highest ranking in almost three years. He lost his first set at the Open to Igor Andreev, but rebounded quickly and followed up with a straight-set win over my dear James Blake earlier today. Next up for the veteran Spaniard is Florian Meyer -- they have a fairly close history, but Ferrer's experience and comfort on a hardcourt should help him win in the end.

At the bottom of the draw, former world #3 David Nalbandian has been working his way back up the rankings. He's been battling injury for most of the year, winning just a handful of matches since making the finals in Auckland. He's probably well past his prime, but after beating fellow veteran and thirtieth seed Ivan Ljubicic in four sets Friday, he's shown he still has fight left in him. Of course his next battle will be against defending champion Rafael Nadal, who is looking in better form than he has all summer. But if the Argentine can catch Rafa a bit off his game, we could see a mighty big upset.

Sure it would be great if some of the young guns out there were able to keep up their win streaks -- they wouldn't be the first Cinderella's in New York. But there are some very real threats lurking in the shadows, and at any moment it could be their turn to shine.

No Signs of Fatigue

Sure, it's nice to be such a great tennis player that you can hang around 'til the end of a tournament, playing in the late rounds week after week. Of course you do run the risk of exhaustion, especially when you enter an event right before a Grand Slam.

But so far the men and women who played this past finals weekend have followed up on their success -- and those that still have their first rounds to play hope their luck also doesn't run out.

Both Brussels champion Caroline Wozniacki and runner-up Shaui Peng began their Paris campaigns today in style. Though taped up from a thigh injury -- one that caused her to take a medical time-out during Saturday's final -- the #1 seed had no trouble dispatching uber-veteran Kimiko Date Krumm. She made just nine errors and kept her opponent to under thirty percent on her return games. After just an hour, Wozniacki had advanced to the second round, proving she has plenty of steam left in her.

Peng was similarly impressive against Austria's Tamira Paszek -- though she needed just a few more minutes to get the win, she was never in trouble, saving all four break chances against her and winning nearly eighty percent of her first serves.

Strasbourg finalist Marion Bartoli struggled a bit more than the other ladies. After retiring from her championship match while trailing by a set and a game, the Frenchwoman found herself in trouble in Paris against the little-known Anna Tatishvili. The Georgian broke the eleventh seed in all of her service games during the first set, running off to a lead in just over half an hour. But ultimately experience prevailed -- Bartoli was able to get her game together and brought the momentum to her side of the court, winning the match 6-1 in the third set.

The woman who claimed the title in Strasbourg, Andrea Petkovic, will begin her Roland Garros campaign tomorrow against up-and-coming Serb Bojana Jovanovski. The two have never met before, but both had nice starts to the year, and ostensibly are better suited to hard courts. But Petko will do her best to back up her highest career ranking and, I expect, should come out on top.

Over in Nice, unseeded Victor Hanescu made a surprising run to the finals, kicking off that campaign with a one-sided defeat of Frenchman Benoit Paire. Ironically, he faced him again in his French Open first round earlier today and was in for a bigger fight this time around. After dropping the second set and rebounding with a breadstick in the third, Hanescu was forced to a tiebreak in the final set, eventually prospering in more than two-and-a-half hours. I'm not sure the result will completely mirror that of last week's event, but at least he's off to a good start.

Nicolas Almagro, who won the Nice title, will open tomorrow against Poland's Lukasz Kubot, a man against whom he's 3-0. I don't suspect he'll have much trouble this time around, either, but hopefully he'll use the match to make a statement on just how much he's contending for this championship.

All four of the men who played singles in the Dusseldorf final will play their openers on Tuesday. Florian Mayer and Philipp Kohlschreiber, who led the Germans to victory, will face Igor Kunitsyn and Sam Querrey respectively. Mayer, who's never lost to his opponent, should improve his streak, but Kohlschreiber, one-and-one against the American, will have to strike early. Querrey is hanging onto a seed in Paris by the slimmest of margins, and he's more than beatable, so look for the veteran German to force an upset.

The Argentines failed to defend their World Team Cup title over the weekend, so they'll be out for revenge. Juan Ignacio Chela meets young American Tim Smyczek, a man who's lost his only Tour-level clay court match, and should not have too much trouble. But Juan Monaco, ranked #43 in the world, faces a faltering Fernando Verdasco. The Argentine has a convincing 6-2 record against his opponent, so he should bring plenty of confidence into the match and could very well send the seed packing early.

It's a hectic and demanding life these athletes lead, but so far they're proving they have the strength and endurance to keep their campaigns going for at least a little while longer. Of course, not everyone can keep it up forever, but the ones that do will sure make for some exciting matches in the coming weeks.

A Chance to Shine

The early rounds of play in Miami have generated more than a few interesting stories, but for some players they've created opportunities to break into ground they haven't seen in a long time -- or, for some, at all.

Maria Sharapova hasn't been a complete slouch since her return from shoulder surgery about two years ago, having won a handful of lower-tier titles along the way, but she's failed to make a dent at the big events and hasn't beaten a top-ten player all year. Though she reached the semis in Indian Wells last week, she was smacked by Caroline Wozniacki for the second time in a row and hasn't faced any big challenge from early opponents at the Sony Ericsson Open.

On Monday she'll have her first chance in a while to prove she can still hit with the big girls. In her Sweet Sixteen match-up she'll face Sam Stosur, currently ranked #4 in the world. Sharapova has won all six of their previous meetings, but they were all well before the Australian really broke through in the game. Still Stosur has been a little choppy in recent weeks, only reaching a quarterfinal round once this year, and dropping matches to players like Flavia Pennetta and Jarmila Groth. If Sharapova can extend her win streak, it could give her the confidence she needs to make a real run at this title and maybe get back into top-ten territory for the first time since 2008.

But looming large in her way could be a player in truly uncharted territory. Shuai Peng is just a shade off her career high ranking at #32 in the world, but she's arguably playing her best tennis this year. After stunning Jelena Jankovic at the Australian Open, she followed up with wins over Francesca Schiavone in Doha and Na Li in Indian Wells. This week, still unseeded, she trounced Aravane Rezai and Svetlana Kuznetsova to make the fourth round. Next up she'll face Alexandra Dulgheru, who's been largely on the sidelines recently thanks to illness and injury. If Peng can take advantage of a slightly debilitated opponent, she might just put herself on everyone's radar.

Juan Martin Del Potro has been making his way back into the elite ranks of the sport the last few months, making a couple of semis and winning the title in Delray Beach. But he hasn't beaten a top-ten player since the World Tour Finals in 2009, so whether he was really in Grand Slam winning shape was still in question.

That is, until today. One of the most dangerous floaters in the draw, he'd already taken out twenty-ninth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round, but you'd think he'd face a much bigger fight from current world #4 Robin Soderling. But DelPo was unfazed this evening -- already leading the pair's head-to-head he had the confidence to come out swinging, and with twelve aces during the match he displayed all signs of the champion we know he is. It might be a few more tournaments before he reclaims his own top-ten status, but each win gets him a little closer and should at least provide some stars with relief that they won't have to face the Argentine in any more early rounds.

But before he moves any farther in Key Biscayne, he'll have to survive a rematch of his Delray semifinal against Mardy Fish, who has a chance to make his own history. Already at a career high ranking of #15 in the world, he's closing in on single digits and a few more wins here could help him supplant veteran Andy Roddick as the best player in American tennis -- man or woman. That's quite a coup for someone who's been on Tour for over ten years.

Of course it's too soon to call the championship for any of these players -- for some it's certainly a longer shot than for others. But a few more wins grants them each the chance to make a big jump in the rankings, and maybe more importantly in the minds of everyone else who faces them.

A Chance to Break Through

We've reached that point in the Australian Open where, had there been no upsets, we'd see seeds play seeds across the board. But what fun would it be if there were no upsets? With so many of the sports top players dropping from the start, it's not only wreaked havoc with the draws, but given a couple lesser-known players a real chance to continue their early runs.

Twenty-three year old Monica Niculescu had only won one match in Melbourne before this year, but she downed a tough Timea Bacsinszky in the first round and followed it up by beating Wimbledon standout Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday. They might not have been the highest-ranked players, but with a third round match against a wholly beatable Francesca Schiavone, the Romanian might be able to make a big statement. It'll only get harder, of course, as one of two other Grand Slam champions -- Justine Henin or Svetlana Kuznetsova -- will be waiting in the wings, but for someone who's never won more than two matches at a Major, we're sure seeing some signs of progress.

World #46 Alexandr Dolgopolov is making his Australian Open debut, but he's been playing a lot of tennis recently. After making the quarters in Moscow and St. Petersburg to round out 2010, he romped Sam Querrey in Sydney. The Ukranian hasn't faced a seeded player yet -- his previous opponent took care of that for him -- but with a third round date with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a man he took to five sets last year at Wimbledon, he's in a similar position to show his strength and potential. Like Niculescu, though, he could meet an even tougher opponent after that -- Robin Soderling should have no trouble advancing -- but if Dolgopolov is going to continue climbing the rankings, he'll have to face the best players.

Julia Goerges is ranked just outside of seeding territory, so it's not the biggest surprise that she's made it this far. But though she's riding a wave of momentum that scored her wins over Petra Kvitova, Ana Ivanovic and Sam Stosur since the U.S. Open and even earned her first Tour trophy in Bad Gastein, she's never had much success at the big events. That could change though, as her next opponent, 2008 champion Maria Sharapova, is not looking quite as sharp as she once was. And with Venus Williams and Andrea Petkovic likely to wear each other out to make the fourth round, it might be Julia's turn to pounce.

Japan's Kei Nishikori has been building himself back up, having dropped clear off the rankings when an elbow injury took him out of contention in 2009. He survived a feisty Fabio Fognini in his first round and withstood a bagel in the third set against Florian Mayer on Wednesday to lock in his best performance yet in Melbourne. And though he's got two top-ten players coming up -- Fernando Verdasco followed potentially by Tomas Berdych -- neither is playing his best tennis these days, and might be surprised in their runs.

The biggest on-paper upset so far this tournament has come from twenty-five year old Shuai Peng who withstood several comeback attempts from seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic yesterday to make the third round Down Under. And for her efforts, she's rewarded with what could be the best prospects of the underdogs -- she owns a solid two-to-one career record over Ayumi Morita, who she'll face next, and could face either an ailing Aggie Radwanska or former Juniors champ Simona Halep after that. Despite her ten-plus years on Tour, Peng's never made the quarterfinals at a Slam, and I've got to like her chances now.

It's always nice -- and sometimes commonplace -- to see some new faces emerge at the Majors, but these guys in particular have the added fortune of a fairly clear path for at least the next few rounds. I'm not saying they'll win the whole thing, but it sure is a great way to start the year.