Australian Open 2012 Draw: Why Men's Draw Sets Up Poorly for Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick does not have much to look forward to for the Australian Open. He has certainly been playing down a level or two since winning the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami in 2010.

He has been playing with more of a finesse style through the guidance of coach, Larry Stefanki, as opposed to the aggressive game play that Jimmy Connors tried to get him to execute a few years prior.

Due to this fact, he plays much more extended rallies and it takes him longer to penetrate through his opponents and the court in general.

Also, over the years, it has been easier for opponents to detect A-Rod's serving patterns and be able to break his serve more easily simply by slicing or blocking the ball back into play to start a baseline rally.

On another note, his draw is not going to help him emulate the same successful results he had at this last US Open (where he made the quarterfinals).

He cannot possibly reach the quarterfinals unless every seeded player drops out early, which seems highly unlikely. He faces Robin Haase in the first round who happened to come very close to knocking him out of the draw just last year in Melbourne.

I predict that Haase will take out Roddick, but he will have to hope that he can execute that day otherwise the same result as last year may occur.

Nevertheless, Andy is favored to beat the Dutchman, in which case he will face Lleyton Hewitt, Milos Raonic, Radek Stepanek, and Novak Djokovic all prior to the quarterfinals.

If by some divine miracle Andy beats all his opponents and lets the blistering heat get to them, he will not be challenged in the quarterfinals match because he has a firm grip on all of the players in that half of the quarter. However, he would fall before the final.

Andy Roddick's career has been shaped by many ups and downs, and just when he started to go up again in the last major, it seems he will fall very quickly this time around. Americans will have to root for John Isner, Mardy Fish, Ryan Harrison, and even Sam Querrey to pull off big victories instead.

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