With just days to go before the 101st annual Australian Open, tennis fans and players are abuzz to kick off the first major tennis event of the year. Peter Bodo of tennis.com has broken down five players who may surprise you with their level of play in Melbourne.
Included in the list are Tomas Berdych, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jerzy Janowicz, Dominika Cibulkova, and Tommy Haas. Bodo cites a number of reasons as to why he expects these particular players to impress, but mainly relies on past performances and statistics to back his predictions. For instance, he mentions the so-close-it-hurts outcomes of Tommy Haas' previous attempts at winning a major as one of the main factors that will motivate him to have a big showing at the event.
Although Berdych recently split with Nike, it's likely he will continue to wear the Nike Zoom Breathe. Kuznetsova will lace up her usual Filas, although it's hard to say which model. Jerzy Janowicz will more than likely wear the Nike Breathe Cage II, while Dominika Cibulkova will wear a women's Zoom Breathe 2K12. Finally, you can bet on seeing Tommy Haas in the Asics Gel Solution Speed.
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