Six of the 12 American men playing the Australian Open are bunched in No. 3 seed-Novak Djokovic’s quarter of draw, including two of the three seeded Americans, No. 7 Andy Roddick and No. 23 Mardy Fish. Most intriguing is the strong possibility of a third round matchup between Roddick and unseeded Sam Querrey, who with a current ranking of 36 missed out by four spots of being seeded. 

Querrey must get past No. 32 seeded Philip Kohlschreiber in the first round, whom he last beat resoundingly in straight sets in the first round of last year’s U.S. Open.  Querrey would then have to beat one of two aging Europeans:  36-year-old Fabrice Santoro or almost-29 year-old Juan Carlos Ferrero. 

Roddick, who lost to Kohlschreiber in a five-set match in the third round in Melbourne last year, has an opening round against world No. 190 Bjorn Rehnquist and then would face either Xavier Malisse or Michael Llodra, who he beat in last year’s Davis Cup match in April.  If there is going to be an American semifinalist, expect it to come from this section of the draw, although beating defending champ Djokovic will be a high quarterfinal hurdle. 

No. 9-seeded James Blake is in No. 4 seed Andy Murray’s quater of the draw.  He plays Canadian Frank Dancevic in the first round; if Blake wins through his first two rounds, the first seed he would face would be No. 18 Igor Andreev.  Other Americans to watch are Robby Ginepri, whose ranking has risen to 47;  34-year-old Vince Spadea, now ranked 81, and continuing to battle; and No. 68-ranked Bobby Reynolds, a longtime triple-digit ranked player who is at his career peak.

In addition to the 12 players in the main draw, seven Americans failed to qualify, a hell of a long way to go not to make the tournament.  But at least it’s warm there.  View the full list of Americans on the Australian Open web site.

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