I spent about four weeks at Nick Bollettieri’s tennis academy in Bradenton, Fla., in 1981-1982 over the Christmas holidays, when many of the real stars went elsewhere.  While I was there, most of his work was with Brian Gottfried, Jimmy Arias and Chip Hooper, but Nick ventured way out to my practice court one time and saw me dump a forehand volley in the net. He told me to keep my racket head up, and kept going, his internal prediction I’m sure that I would not move past the middle of the pack in the Georgia juniors.  He was right. 

You can check out his picks on his blog to see if he is as prescient with the upcoming Australian Open as he was with my career.  The most successful coach of all-time picks Federer to win, and Murray as a second choice. 

As for me, I agree with Nick that Federer will probably win, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Murray lose before the quarters.  I also bet that Nadal, coming back from a knee injury, will not go beyond the final eight.  And I am hoping to see big Sam Querrey continue where he left off at the U.S. Open, and push a little deeper into the draw.  Could this be the tall Californian’s year?

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