The draw is supposed to happen today at 1p.m. Eastern Time. No use in guessing a winner before then. Some key questions, though:

What top-8 seed will have Hot Hot Hot Hantuchova in their part of the draw? At Indian Wells it was unlucky Henin. You KNOW nobody wants to see her as a fourth-round opponent.

Anna K. finally had a good draw at Indian Wells - and she lost her first-round match to Osterloh. How will our wild, Wild Card fare in this draw?

With a stronger field, will the brackets hold up on the women's side this time? Or will we see another Smashnova-Gagliardi quarterfinal?

How will things stack up for Hewitt? Can anybody beat him? (Hint: no.)

Oh! And what sorry person - Capriati, Hingis, Venus, or Clijsters - will have to see Serena (who should be the 5th seed) as their potential quarterfinal opponent? If it's Venus, will the match actually happen? It's a fair question! After all, the rarity of their matches only increases the thirst for them at places like Wimbledon and the US Open.

Also, given that J-Cap is the not-a-lot-of-fanfare new #1 seed, will her draw be favorable enough to withstand what is certain to be a charge by Venus to win this tournament? She's now about 300 "safe points" ahead of Venus. Meaning that if Venus wins this thing, Jennifer will probably have to get to the semis to stay #1 for a little while longer. Having to fave a Monica, Daniela, or Serena in the quarters could put a premature end to her latest reign at the top.

The Miami event should be very interesting on the women's side. The men's side might be a little boring if Mr. Hewitt continues his stellar play.

Jennifer is actually safer with the ranking than it may seem. Venus won Miami last year (with a couple of big wins along the way for extra quality points), so she will actually make no forward progress this tournament. Even if she wins. Jen made the final, so she can't bow out early, but she is in better position than Venus.

Clijsters is probably wanting to get back into gear after the injury and an early departure in the desert. It will be interesting to see if she can get it going again.

Monica usually plays well in south Florida, so I am hopeful she will have a better showing than her semi with Hingis.

Serena could make some noise. She won her last time out, and that was on hardcourts as well.

It is hard to believe, but the clay court season is just a couple of weeks away. Roland Garros is going to start being a focus for all the players.

Apparently the draw is out and they're using THIS WEEK'S singles rankings for the seedings. Meaning:

Capriati is #1. Serena is #8.

The quarters would look like this:

Jennifer Capriati [1] v. Justin Henin [6]
Kim Clijsters [4] v. Monica Seles [5]


Serena Williams [8] v. Martina Hingis [3]
Venus Williams [2] v. Jelena Dokic [7]

So if the seedings were to stand, for Hingis to win this tournament, she'd have to beat Serena, then Venus, then Capriati. Not gonna happen.

Also of note, the Williamses could meet in the semis. Anna K. drew Daniilidou in the first round ... the winner will play J-Cap. Ouch. Hantuchova? Would face Clijsters in the Round of 16 (then Seles in the quarters).

Early favorite? Venus is the favorite in every non-clay tournament she enters. She's at home. She's the defending champ. HOWEVER. She lost in the semis of her last tournament--how's she feeling? I'm saying her for now, but will know for sure once I see the actual brackets.

I have checked everywhere for the draw it's still not posted...whoever finds it first please post..
however based on the above comments with JenCap being the #1 seed and Serena #8, I believe the matchups would be different:
The Quarters would look like:

(Top)
JenCap vz Serena
Hingas vs Justine

(Bottom)
Kim C vs Monica
Venus vs Dokic

Hopefully they'll post it soon to end all the speculations!!!

Took them all frickin' day to post the draws.
Here's a link to them:
http://www.nasdaq100open.com./drawsheets/d...weventlist.html

My gut picks on the men's side:

quarters
Hewitt d. Safin
Henman d. Enqvist
Roddick d. Malisse
Agassi d. Martin

semi's
Hewitt d. Henman
Agassi d. Roddick

final
Agassi d. Hewitt

I like your picks. Not sure on Roddick and Henman, though.

[quote] So if the seedings were to stand, for Hingis to win this tournament, she'd have to beat Serena, then Venus, then Capriati. Not gonna happen.

---

Unless Serena, Venus and Jen all lose...

My gut picks on the women's side:

quarters
Capriati d. Sanchez Vicario
Hantuchova d. Seles
S. Williams d. Hingis
V. Williams d. Gagliardi

semi's
Capriati d. Hantuchova
V. Williams d. S. Williams

final
V. Williams d. Capriati

Notes:

Hantuchova has an interesting draw. Schiavone, the Italian who tore it up at the Hopman Cup, may give Daniela a test, but I suspect Daniela will still prevail. Next up would be Clijsters, who may still be vulnerable...GREAT opp. for Hantuchova to make it to her second consecutive Tier I quarterfinal. I'm picking Hantuchova over Seles b/c Hantuchova can handle Monica's pace and power AND moves better than Monica, as well.

If Serena is freaked about a semi with Venus, she may get distracted and lose early on to Meghan Shaughnessy. Likewise, if Venus isn't 100% and she gets tested or pushed by Nagyova (who can hit) or Coetzer (who seems to play Venus well by counter-punching), Venus might not make it to the semi's, either.

This is probably the best women’s draw I’ve seen in a long while. A lot of interesting early matches. I’m going out on a limb for my predications this time…
Anna K. is going to do the unthinkable….upset JenCap in the 2nd round. She recently beat JenCap so she should have the confidence to do it again….(come on Anna don’t let me down..again)
QTRS
Anna K. vs Henin (Henin wins in 3)
Kim C vs Seles (Yes Kim defeats Daniela, Seles and Henin for a spot in finals)
Serena vs Hingas (Serena owns Hingas who has a little bit of a challenge this time around)
Venus vs Dokic ( Venus wins but loses to Serena..per Dad’s request of course....smile)

Final Kim C. vs Serena (Serena wins)

I think Serena is the player to beat right now...but can she beat Big Sis? My guess is that if Venus is still struggling with her knee, she'll fall to Dokic, otherwise, she'll block Serena again. If Venus falls early, Serena wins the whole thing.

On the other side, I think Capriati should make it to the final...but Henin has played well against her in the past. If Henin's serve is sorted out and she doesn't double-fault in the clutch, I think she might manage an upset here (ok, maybe I'm dreaming). ASV did show signs of life, though, and Henin has been shaky lately. If ASV wins, Jen should have no trouble with her.

I think Kim will continue to have trouble getting into the swing of things and will fall to DH. Seles/Hantuchova would be an interesting QF, but I don't think either player will beat Capriati. If it comes down to Seles/Henin, though, Seles owns Henin.

In a final, I see Capriati as a bridesmaid against a Williams.

This tournament has Williams written all over it. It's important for both Venus and Serena. Venus because she loves titles, Serena because she's starting to make her move and she needs to do it before the French.

It's also important for Capriati and Hingis, but barring injury I predict a Williams will win.

Does anyone know how a tourney decides what rankings to use? It seems so inconsistent - or it is just me?

I thought they usually used the rankings from the previous week, so they don't have to wait for the results of the last tournament to do the seeding. I could be wrong, though.

I too thought it was strange that they used the current week. I think they usually use the previous week because most draws come out prior to the new monday release...

Yeah, and since this is a two week event with the main draw not beginning until later than the normal one week events, that is probably why they went ahead and used the most current rankings.

While I'm not a conspiracy theorist - it does seem like tampering as the #1 seed tends to have the easiest draw.

Well, I guess the question is, then, did they do the same thing for Indian Wells two weeks ago? Did they wait for the latest rankings before beginning that two week event? If not, then yes, it is indeed fishy!

My picks on the men's side:

Quarters:

Roddick over Robredo
Agassi over Martin
Hewitt over Safin
Federer over Enqvist

Comment: Henman's been having a great year, and I can see why BMan is picking him over Federer, but I just think that the common theme for this year is SEE-SAW, so given back-to-back tournaments, and evenly-matched opponents, the one who struggled in the previous tournament will win the current one. Logical? NO! But that's my pick. Anyway, please note that with Safin, Sampras, Chang, and Moya, Hewitt's quarter has FIVE Grand Slam winners. Henman/Federer's only has Ivanisevic. Roddick/Ferrero's has none. Agassi's has three, with he and Johnsson joining Kafelnikov.

BEST second round match: Kafelnikov v. Martin. Wow! 32 seeds can only prevent so many early-round toughies. How about Agassi v. Rusedski? Malisse v. Corretja? Chela v. Roddick? Once again, the early rounds of the men's looking mighty fine.

Anyway, I'm taking Roddick in a super-hyped semi over Agassi. Hewitt in a straight-setter over Federer.

And in the final? Roddick in three over Hewitt. The rivalry is ON!!!!!

And my chick picks:

Capriati over Henin
Seles over Hantuchova
Serena Williams over Hingis
Venus William over Dokic

Not very daring, I admit. Injuries will play a big part in seeing whether Hantuchova can come through vs. Clijsters or Dokic vs. Kremer/Schett/Gagliardi/Dementieva. If Dokic can't hack it, they need to just time-machine Venus forward to the semis. Also, given Henin's recent play, don't count her as a sure thing vs. Smashnova, Husarova, Raymond, or Sanchez Vicario. A tricky section, she's got.

I see Capriati over Seles in the semis (in yet another classic). I'm nervous about the Williams semi - I hate to be cynical but I'm not convinced that it will happen. Even if it does happen, I'm not convinced we'll see the best player win. Right now, Serena needs the points more. I'm picking her to win the match and, in a rematch of Scottsdale, the tournament over Capriati.

Wow, welcome to the 2002 WTA season - has it ever been this tough to get to the quarters or semi's of a big women's tournament? It's unreal how many tough matches are ahead for the eventual winner, or even finalist for that matter...

JenCap can't be excited about facing Anna in her first match, but i'll bet she's not too worried about Henin or ASV in the quarters..she'll get through....
Both Cljisters and Seles must be bummed about potentially meeting the hottest young star on the tour as early as the 4th rd (for Kim) or the quarters (for Monica) Kim C will prevail but Monica will take her out...
Serena and Osterloh are friends so that won't be fun for them, and Bedanova or Meghan S loom in the 4th rd, another toughie...
Hingis will likely get Stevenson in the 4th rd and then have to take on Serena! Ouch...
Dokic and Venus have an almost sure quarterfinal appt. and i think Jelena will give it a good try but basically we've got Venus waiting for either her sister or Hingis, neither of which would be an easy semi...
My picks: The Americans...JenCap vs Seles and Serena vs Venus....I can't begin to call it from there...What a tournament...The 4th rd on will be nail-biting....

Indian Wells and Miami may just be my new fav tournaments....

Women's tennis is just so much deeper than it used to be. I remember seeing Helen Kelesi and Carling Basset play back in the '80's, when they were both in the top 30, and it was pretty unimpressive stuff. While you're not going to confuse a match between Francesca Schiavone and Daja Bedanova for Venus/J.Cap, it'll be good tennis. No, it's still not as deep as the men's game, but it's maybe one third as deep instead of one tenth. Hingis' problem is that she's Chris Evert in a world with 3 or 4 Navratilovas and a half-dozen Mandlikovas & Shrivers.

JC, that comparison of Hingis to Evert, I think, is quite on the mark.

I think that's an accurate analogy: the Hingis/Evert one...In a couple of years, Hingis might be the one still fighting for titles with all the younger stars while the veterans and perhaps even a few often injured big babes might be gone..won't that be interesting....Does everyone think that the sisters, JenCap, Hingis and the Belgiums will stay in top five/top ten for 3-5 more years?

Not all of them, but definitely some of them. I think the Belgians are most likely to fall first.

But Navratilova and Graf (injuries and all) stayed at the top for a very long time. Venus and Serena certainly has the talent to be competitors for more than 3-5 more years. I still think their best is yet to come.

Longevity is tough. No one will do what Evert and Navratilova did as far as domination over a long period of time. Injuries are too common now. Graf hung in there for longer than she was really physically able; Seles is now going on her 13th year on the tour (with the 2.5 yr absence); ASV has been out there for a long time...but none of the present top ten will likely be around as long, just too many injuries and too much competition...But ya never know.

And I do think Hingis will win another grand slam...she'll need help and she'll need some luck ala JenCap but i think she'll do it..she's more than capable....

Okay, back on topic....

Today was a banner day for the Qualifiers at Key Biscayne. Perebiynis beat Molik. Webb beat Serna. Dominikovic beat McQuillan. Lee over Neffa-De Los Rios. Zvonareva lost 7-5 in the third to Iva Majoli. As I write this, Dyrberg is leading Pratt 2-0 in the first. Mashona Washington takes the stage this evening v. Rittner, who is very beatable.

This is almost inevitable, I feel. With 32 seeds having 32 byes and a tournament beginning mid-week, you get a lot of first round matches featuring cold, often slumping middle-of-the-road players versus young, match-tested, not-much-lower-ranked qualifiers. Ironically, though, these qualifiers will probably have more difficulty in the next rounds playing the inevitably more-experienced seeded player than the mid-ranked player (with one match under her belt) would have. I think the most important aspect is the momentum gained by playing in the qualies.

In fact, I wish they would get rid of this whole 32 seed thing.

HEY! They're messing with my bracket!!

According to cbssportsline.com,

"Because of a computer error, seedings for No. 2 Juan Carlos Ferrero and No. 3 Yevgeny Kafelnikov were flipped. When the mistake was discovered, they exchanged places in the draw, meaning American Todd Martin could face Ferrero in the second round."

This changes things. I now think Kafelnikov will beat Robredo, and meet Roddick in the quarters. Roddick will not have as easy a time against Yevgeny as he would have against Tommy. However, I'm still going with Roddick to make it to the semis.

I'm still picking Martin to advance to the third round (this time it would be against Ferrero). However, given that he's currently down 6-2 to Boutter, I'm less confident about my quarterfinal prediction for Todd. Let's just say whoever wins this match should beat Ferrero on the hard stuff....

Andy's out! Damn it. Guess that opens the draw up for Escude maybe. I see Grandma's last on court #1 today. Hope she gets her first serve up to 50mph.

My boo Andy needs to learn how to return serve. He simply does not get enough of them back in the court. There is no way that Chela should be winning so many of his first AND second serve points. He does not have a cannon of a first serve nor a second. Wonder whether he and Tarik are working on that aspect of Andy's game.
And then my school lost in basketball last night. Someone is trying to tell me something here...
On a MUCH brighter note, my friend tells me that Andy, Marat and Lleyton (yuck!) are gonna be in the SI Women's Swimsuit edition.

I'm bummed Andy's out. Chela is one of the hottest players on the tour but it sounded like Andy didn't play very well...
Is that SI Women's swimsuit issue for real? What do you bet those guys won't be wearing speedo's or bikini's like the ladies do for the guys..I'll still look forward to it...
Seles plays Martinez in the 2nd rd - that'd be fun to watch; Monica's beaten her like 20 times or something...
And what a shocker? Anna lost in the first rd!

I'm startin' to think Roddick's a bit overrated.

Isn't he coming off an injury or sickness or something?

I hope he's not overrated. America needs Andy Roddick. I think for a 19 year old, he's doing quite well.

I also hope he's not overrated. But the general consensus among tennis fans(from another tennis forum) is that he's a product of US media hype.

It depends...yes, if you're going to say Roddick's clearly the next great player, then you're overrating him. He has great POTENTIAL, as does Federer, but there's no guarantee he will become a better player than Hewitt or even as good. Hewitt was in the top 10 at 19, after all.
I do think that the U.S. media is desperate to build up an American male tennis star, and that they seized on the most promising young player the U.S. has (as they did with Gambill a few years ago). He is the best American prospect, but while he may become a great player, he clearly isn't one yet.

Andy's results absolutely speak for themselves.

If you'd like a definition of hype,
see: Kournikova, Anna

Andy's stats put him quite equal to Sampras, Agassi, Chang and Courier's early days. And if you know anything about tennis, all you have to do is watch him play to know he's the real deal. For anyone in doubt, I suggest watching a tape of his unfortunate loss to Hewitt during the U.S. Open last year. Andy's play was equal to the eventual champion, without a doubt.

Is it obvious that I like him?

Ok...one thing I want to comment on is that I was using great in a more limited sense than you. After all the buildup he's head, if he turns out to be comparable to Chang or Courier, he will be viewed as a major disappointment. I went back and checked the records--at 19 years, 7 months Roddick is a bit better than Sampras, better than Courier, nowhere near Agassi (3 grand slam semifinals, 8 titles) or Chang (the french open win, 2 grandslam q.f.'s, 6 4th rd apps.). He's also slightly ahead of Ivanisevic (another non-great). I also compared him to his contemporaries at the same age--behind Hewitt, ahead of Safin and Federer. So, based on prior records of 19-year olds, he's certainly in fast company (I checked to make sure he was better than some famous flameouts--Moya, Rios, Norman, Philipoussis etc.--he is). His game is very impressive...but on the downside, he seems to be fragile, and his results since the U.S. open have been mostly disappointing. He has the one title this year, but it was a very minor event...I'm kind of worried by the fact that he hasn't been able to beat a top-flight opponent in quite a while. I'm not willing to put him in the Agassi/Sampras/McEnroe/Connors class just yet.

It usually takes longer for serve & volleyers to evolve their game than it does for baseliners. Sure, Sampras won the U.S. Open at 19 in 1990, but even he admits that it was basically an unbelievable two-week hot streak. He didn't come into his own until 1993, when he took over the #1 ranking, and won Wimbledon and the Open (oh, is that all?). It'll take a while for Andy to peak. First and foremost, he's a serve & volleyer (or really should be), but his volley's not that great. The good news is that he's very focused on his tennis, and seems to have a solid head on his shoulders. Whether he'll turn out to be another Sampras or Agassi, I don't know. Gee, that's a bar that's set awfully high.

Perhaps he's already done it, but I wish Andy would hire himself a full-time, traveling trainer to help him deal with all the injuries. I don't know if it's that the guy pushes himself too hard, doesn't do enough off-court conditioning, or has just been damn unlucky lately ... maybe a bit of all three.

The kid is just 19 years and 7 months old, which is waaaaay too young to make any serious prognostications about his career. Having said that, I will now contradict myself ... When Sampras and Agassi were young'uns, I remember watching them and thinking there was something special about these guys. Roddick, well, he's good, and will probably develop into a very good player, but I don't get that same sense. Will he win a slam or two, or three? Sure. Do I see him having a career like the two American greats? No, but again, that bar is set awfully high.

Oh my God! Henin lost to Smashnova in three sets, by making 103 unforced errors. That's ghastly. I don't think I've ever seen anyone make that many errors in a three-set match. She had more errors than points. Was it televised? Anybody see it? What the hell was wrong with her?

Venus had a shaky match too, basically winning on the strength of her first serve alone. Is her knee still an issue?

Unfortunately, Monica is struggling against Conchita. This is not a good sign. COME ON MONICA!!!!

GO MONICA!!!

Well Monica pulled it out. So did Venus. Capriati won easily.

What a letdown though for Hantuchova. After pulling that stunning win at Indian Wells, she lost to Cara Black.

Serena just played Katerina Srebotnik, whose been pretty solid of late.

Serena won 6-1 6-0

Wow.

It's a shame she's so streaky, because when she's on she's even more ruthlessly efficient than Hingis (the difference being that Hingis is almost always on her game.) I hope she can keep it up. I'd like to see Little Sis win more titles and be a credible threat to #1.

I must say Andre is looking sharp at the moment in what looks like will be a straight set victory over Argentine Calleri. Andre will need to be if he has to eventually play Hewitt. I don't think I have seen Calleri before. He is actually kind of hunky.

Yep, Calleri is a hunk. Saw him twice at the French Open before. Nice, beefy and hairy chest. Woof.....GO ANDRE, though!!!!!!!

Does anyone know if Jan Michael is still alive in the tournament??
Speaking of Jan Michael: guys forgive me if I gloat a little, but I have to. Last night my partner attended a local aids fundraiser that coincided with the Oscars. One of the things to bid on for the silent auction were not one but TWO glorious pictures of JMG. One is a 4ft. by 2ft. signed mounted poster and the other is a picture frame signed signed picture of him. Both with 6 pack in full view! I got them!!!!! If I had a camera I would send a pic for all of you guys who lust after him like me. I will always prize them. Wasn't he a sweetheart to donate them? Thats just how he is here. Always donating time or $.

[ March 25, 2002: Message edited by: puckman1 ]

I am not going to commment on the Andy-hating above, because u all know what the tone of my response would be. I will, however, answer the question about the veracity of the Swimsuit thing by saying, yes it's true. And I don't think that any of the guys have ever been anywhere near as naked in the SI for Women's Issue as the women are in the SI Swimsuit Issue. I would not plan to see anyone in Speedos, unfortunate as that may be.

The Safin-Horna match was interesting, but I didn't care that Safin won. I was impressed with the rather studly smaller bearded Peruvian Horna. Change the last vowel in his name to a "y". Aren't I awful??? He made some bad choices on shots in the final minutes unfortunately.

Hokey Smokes!

Sampras was ousted by Fernando Gonzalez, 6-7, 1-6. Gonzalez is a hot player who's been coming on strong the past few months, but a 6-1 second set over Sampras?!

Was this match televised?! Anyone got the scoop?

B Man -

I hear Sampras just got outplayed. He was up 4-1 in the first set and then just collapsed.