In the searing heat of Melbourne, the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of 2006 gets underway on Monday. Victory for Roger Federer, with six Grand Slams under his belt, would be another step forward in becoming the greatest of all time. The absence of Rafael Nadal, Marat Safin and Andre Agassi due to injury seems to have crippled the tournament. It is impossible to fill the void left by the charismatic trio of Grand Slam winners.

Going through the draw, it is difficult to find a serious challenge to Federer’s domination, provided he stays injury free. Federer’s expected semi-final clash with Hewitt may be his toughest assignment. In the past, Hewitt’s terrier like tenacity, fist-pumping and high decibel screams of ‘Come on’ have had no impact on the calm Federer. Hewitt just does not have the weight of shot to penetrate the Swiss armour.

In the lower half, second seed Andy Roddick has a tough quarter. According to the seeding, Roddick should play Ivan Ljubicic, seeded seventh, for a place in the semi-finals. Ljubicic is 6 feet 4 inches tall, very strong and athletic. He moves well and can (as we saw in Chennai) thump a 230 kmph service ace when required. With powerful groundshots and a deadly one-handed backhand and a good net attack, he is a formidable foe. Twice he has pushed Federer to a final set tie-break in tournament finals. Ljubicic’s victory in the recent ATP tournament in Chennai where he played the semi-finals at noon and the final at night, shows that he is very fit and in fine fettle.

One cannot ignore the resolute and consistent David Nalbandian of Argentina who is seeded No. 4 and who should find a place in the semi-finals. Roddick has not fulfilled the great promise he has shown earlier. His bruising aggressive game, spearheaded by the fastest serve in the world, is one-dimensional.

When Roddick is not at his best, he does not have a sound defence to fall back on. Summing up, it seems that the men’s semi-finalists would be Federer vs Hewitt in the top half and Nalbandian vs Roddick/Ljubicic in the lower half.

The women’s singles, surprisingly, features all the top ten players for the second time in 30 years. Every one of them is coming back from injuries and one really wonders if this patched-up lot can take the field to Olympian heights. The results will be dictated by the physical condition of the players. Davenport is in very good form and should win if she can last out the tough fortnight.

For Sania, a lucky wild card entrant in 2005 to No. 32 seed in 2006 in a Grand Slam is a giant leap. The exhilarating climb we all enjoyed on Sania’s coattails seems to have levelled out and Sania is now cruising comfortably at the above 30 levels of women’s rankings.

Sania’s seeding at No. 32 is a great boon for her as she will not meet any of the top 31 players till the third round. She is pitted against a qualifier, 16-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the first round. But, this is nothing to rejoice about. The qualifying rank consists of a hungry pack of tough, young hopefuls and some highly-ranked players coming back after injury. Also, winning three qualifying matches sharpens their game and gives them confidence.

So, Sania will have to be alert and at her very best from the very first round. Her second round opponent will be the winner of the Michaela Krajicek-Kristina Brandi encounter. Amelie Mauresmo of France, seeded No. 3 awaits Sania in the third round. Apart from a very recent first-round loss, Mauresmo has been in very good form.

If Sania’s giant-killing spree continues in 2006 and she happens to beat Mauresmo, she then plays Nicole Valdisova for a place in the quarter finals. At this stage one should not look further and fall back on that hackneyed clich? repeated by all players ad nausem ? “I am taking one match at a time” ? when asked about their prospects in the tournament.

I watched Sania on the TV playing against Valdisova at Hong Kong and am happy to say that she is in good shape and on present form can give any of the higher-ranked players a run for their money. But it would be a flight of fancy to consider her to be a contender for a Grand Slam singles title in 2006.