For me and the other two diehard tennis fans in the world, here's a quick preview of the men's draw for the first grand slam of 2008 (quicker women's preview: Serena over Justine Henin in the finals, Sharapova to lose in the 2nd round to Lindsay Davenport, Ana Ivanovic to pose a serious threat to Sharapova as the resident hot chick tennis player):

First quarter of the draw

Since Roger Federer is something like 245-1 against the rest of the players in this quarter, he should get to the semis with no problem.  Fernando Gonzalez, last year's runner up who also beat him in Shanghai last year, is capable of some great tennis, but could easily flame out early.  Australian Chris Guccione, who already has a title in 2008, will have a serious home court advantage over him if they meet in the 2nd round.  American James Blake has a pretty favorable draw, but in recent years he hasn't shown anything against Federer, so his ceiling is only so high.  An intriguing first round matchup to watch will be when 5'6" Fabrice Santoro goes against 6'7" John Isner.  Young power hitters Juan Monaco, Tomas Berdych, and Marin Cilic could impress for a couple rounds.

Second quarter of the draw

The high seed in this quarter, Novak Djokovic, really needs to get off to a good start this year to justify his #3 world ranking.  Unfortunately for him, he's also in the most loaded quarter of the draw.  If he can get through likely 3rd & 4th round matches against Dmitry Tursunov and hometown boy Lleyton Hewitt, he'll have had a good tournament.  David Ferrer had a great finish to 2007, and if he gets past Argentinian upstart Juan Marin Del Potro in the 2nd round, he could make a deep run.  Anything's possible with David Nalbandian; after winning two Masters Series tourneys to end 2007, he injured his back, so no one really knows what to expect.  The marquis first round match pits young Latvian Ernests Gulbis against Russian veteran Marat Safin, who's equally likely to play a masterpiece as he is to drop his shorts at midcourt.

Third quarter of the draw

Everyone's favorite rumored match fixer, Nikolay Davydenko, seemed to be worn down by all the attention to the story last year.  He's got a difficult enough draw that he's a prime candidate for an early upset.  If he slips, journeyman Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka should make it through to the final 16.  The rest of this quarter is filled with players itching for a breakout Slam.  Richard Gasquet and Mikhail Youzhny, both of which have been to a Slam semi before, would be considered the favorites to get through.  Brit Andy Murray could pose a threat as well, but no one really knows how healthy he is mentally and physically, plus he has a tough first round match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.R

Fourth quarter of the draw

Rafael Nadal looked broken down at the end of last year, but he was a finalist at last week's final warmup tournament, and his road to the quarters is Charmin soft.  Andy Roddick has a real opportunity to erase doubts about his game with a deep run.  The American tennis media will go nuts over his probable 2nd round match against prodigy Donald Young.  Mardy Fish could break out if he gets his head together, but a 2nd round match against Tommy Robredo is going to bring back memories of his disastrous match against him at the U.S. Open.

Predicted final four: Federer vs. Ferrer, Youzhny vs. Roddick

Predicted champion: Federer over Roddick