Australian Open 2010 - Men's Draw

World #1 Roger Federer will have to overturn a two-match losing streak against world #6 Nikolay Davydenko if he is to keep his 22 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals appearance streak alive. Both are drawn into the same quadrant in the 2010 Australian Open Men's Singles draw that was announced today. #2 Rafael Nadal may have to face #5 Andy Murray in the quarterfinals. The Scot was overtaken by US Open Champion and 4th seed Juan Martin del Potro in last week's rankings as Murray chose to bypass defending his Doha title in favor of representing the United Kingdom in the Hopman Cup tournament. Below are the potential fourth round match-ups for seeds:

TOP Half - Quadrant 1:

#1 Roger Federer vs #15 Gilles Simon
#6 Nikolay Davydenko vs # 9 Fernando Verdasco

TOP Half - Quadrant 2:

#3 Novak Djokovic vs #16 Tommy Robredo
#8 Robin Soderling vs #10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

BOTTOM Half - Quadrant 1:

#4 Juan Martin del Potro vs #14 Marin Cilic
#7 Andy Roddick vs #11 Fernando Gonzalez

BOTTOM Half - Quadrant 2:
#2 Rafael Nadal vs #13 Radek Stepanek
#5 Andy Murray vs #12 Gael Monfils

Some Observations:

* Aussie number one and #22 seed Lleyton Hewitt may meet #15 Simon of France in the third round. If he gets past that, he will have a chance against Federer in the fourth round.
* Federer's quadrant has three top 9 players and is the quadrant with the highest average rank amongst top 16 players. The Nadal-Murray quadrant has second highest rank average rank.
* The del Potro-Roddick quadrant is the only one without a previous Australian Open champion or finalist.
* If Davydenko beats Federer in the quarterfinals, it would be the first time that the Swiss will not reach a grand slam semifinals since the 2004 French Open where he lost to Gustavo Kuerten.