Posted on 1/18/2008 4:27:33 PM

Men’s Australian Open Serbian Doubleheader – Djokovic & Tipsarevic

By Eric Williams

From Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic on the men’s side to Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic on the women’s, Serbian-born players are making their mark in professional tennis like never before. With three of those four players ranked in the top five for their respective genders, it should be only a matter of time before one breaks through and becomes a grand slam champion.

Here is a look at the top two Serbian-born men’s players in the world – and their respective upcoming Australian Open matches.

05:00 PM EST

Novak Djokovic -1600

Sam Querrey +700

ATP Australian Open Round 3

Analysis: Though Querrey and Djokovic have never faced each other, it’s a pretty concrete fact that these two big hitters should produce a very entertaining match at the least.

Querrey played in his first Australian Open last year, reaching the third round before bowing out while Djokovic reached the fourth round last year after two first place exits in 2005 and 2006.

Djokovic however, exploded last year, moving up to third in the world rankings while reaching his first grand slam final at the U.S. Open where he gave Federer all he could handle before falling to the best player in the world at the moment.

I genuinely believe that Djokovic is going to be the player break the Federer-Nadal stranglehold they have shared in each of the last two years.

While Querrey certainly has the stuff to compete with the ‘big boys’ he’s at least another year or to away from mastering his game and really challenging for a grand slam title.

Free Pick: Djokovic

05:00 PM EST

Roger Federer -10000

Janko Tipsarevic +1800

ATP Australian Open Round 3

Analysis: While I can easily see the growth of Tipsarevic as he moved up the world rankings last season, it’s unfair to even suggest he has a chance in this match against the world’s best player.

The pair has faced each other only once, in 2006, with Federer winning in straight sets.

While Federer has already won three Australian Open titles, including the last two, Tipsarevic had never passed the second round until this year. Too bad his tournament will come to a screeching halt in this match.

Free Pick: Federer