Mal's Picks
	Washington Former ATP Tour pro MaliVai Washington provides ESPN.com with in-depth analysis during the Australian Open. Washington, a tennis analyst for ESPN, reached the 1996 Wimbledon final.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- With defending champion Andre Agassi's withdrawal because of a wrist injury only hours before play was to begin, it changes the whole complexity of the draw.

Agassi had wrist surgery on his right wrist in 1993 and it hasn't been a problem for him since. He didn't appear to have any problem with his wrist a couple of days ago in the final at Kooyong with Sampras. An unfortunate injury like that for Agassi, though, turns out to be an opportunity for other players.

You really have to be looking at who he would have played in that part of the draw. This is a nice little first-round opportunity for qualifier Byron Black, not that Black couldn't have beaten Agassi before, but this makes his chances better.

In the Round of 16, Agassi would have met Roddick. With Roddick having an 0-2 record against Agassi, that bodes well for Roddick.

I think back to 1996 when I was in the finals of Wimbledon, it was a similar situation in that half of the draw. Boris Becker pulled out with a wrist injury and Agassi got beat by Doug Flach. So two of the best players in the world on grass, in Becker, and hard court, in Agassi, were out and it was a chance for someone to break through.

Lleyton Hewitt

Player

Mal's Analysis

One of the things that is impressive about Hewitt is that he's able to play in front of his home crowd. A lot of players struggle when playing a major in their home country -- except for a couple of American exceptions in Sampras and Agassi. Hewitt showed he could win at home by winning the Tennis Masters Cup in Sydney last year. Look for him to have a strong tournament because he can beat anyone out there. The only downside is that he caught chicken pox. That's not the kind of prep you want. You want to be 100 percent because you've got players who are doing well who could beat you on any given day. Chicken pox is going to take a lot out of you.

Roger Federer

Player

Mal's Analysis

Roger Federer is going to be a guy you can watch to do well in this championship. He just won the final in Sydney. With his game -- a full all-court game and the ability to have the power with it -- he should succeed on this Rebound Ace surface here in Melbourne. There's no reason why he can't. It's a great confidence-builder for a player to go into a Grand Slam on a roll like Federer is right now. In the first round he plays Michael Chang -- who's on his last legs so to speak. Chang's not the player he was even two years ago.

Andy Roddick

Player

Mal's Analysis

I'm a big fan of Andy Roddick right now. He had such a great year in 2001 and he started out this year with a solid week in Sydney as he made it to the semis before losing to Federer. It's a good way to start the year. With his power on his serve and power on his ground strokes, at 19 years old he could come in to this championship and find himself in the second week easily -- maybe only losing a couple of sets. One of the great things about being 19 is that you know you're not as good as you are going to get. That's a scary proposition for anyone else because Roddick's only going to get better after finishing last year as No. 16.

Mark Philippoussis

Player

Mal's Analysis

My long shot for the tournament is Australian Mark Philippoussis. He's coming off of knee problems, which is the worst type of injury for a tennis player, but in his first tournament back he reached the final in Adelaide. He has such an explosive game centered around his serve that he can just let his confidence ride him through a match. Physically, he's going to have to contend with not only his knee but also his conditioning. You can't come from a year off and have the conditioning to last in a three-hour, five-set match.

Tim Henman

Player

Mal's Analysis

This is going to be a huge year for Henman. He has the potential to beat 95 percent of the players on the tour on any given week. He's never been a guy who's a great pressure player -- he's had opportunities at majors and he's always gone down. He's been out there long enough and won enough titles, but he's never been able to get over that hump to win a major. He's never been able to sit solidly in the top 10, and he missed last year's Masters Cup. He couldn't have started out this year better than by winning at Adelaide. There's nothing more gratifying than starting the year out with a victory -- it puts you in a good frame. He's got the kind of game where you're constantly chipping and charging. He's a guy who can look really bad on the tennis court when he's not confident; when he's sure of himself, he's dangerous.

Gustavo Kuerten

Player

Mal's Analysis

Gustavo Kuerten lost in the first round here last year. He struggled toward the end of the season indoors. He would want nothing more than to start this year well. Everyone knows he's a great clay-court player -- and he's won titles on hard court -- but he's at the point in his career that he wants to prove he can do something at Grand Slams other than the French Open. If he had finished better in some of the other majors last year, he could have finished the year as No. 1. He won't win the championship. In the past, he's started out the year a little slow and then picks it up before the clay-court season and has a great clay-court season.

Others to watch
Sebastien Grosjean, who was a semifinalist here last year and finished the year at No. 8, could do some damage as could Tommy Haas. The way Haas was playing at the end of last year, he is priming himself for a finish in the top 10 in 2002. His biggest problem is playing smart -- he plays flashy and tries to win shots that don't make a lot of sense. If he plays his game and wins, it's impressive enough instead of playing way off-the-court drop shots that have a 2 percent chance of making it.

One of things about playing in a Grand Slam you have some players who no matter who they play from the first round on, they are good enough to beat anyone -- in 1994 here, Agassi, from the first, was good enough to take the title. A lot of guys need to get a good draw and have guys fall out to clear the way. Guillermo Canas is a guy who, although he went from No. 130 to No. 14 last year, on Rebound Ace won't be able to do it without some players dropping out. He plays Paradorn Srichaphan in the first round and then Albert Montanes -- you can't ask for a better situation than that. From there it's going to come down to who is playing good tennis. Canas could meet Henman in the fourth round.