Australian Open 2012: Novak Djokovic Will Disappoint and Bow out Early

Despite being the favorite, Novak Djokovic will not win the 2012 Australian Open.

In fact, don't be surprised if he gets knocked out relatively early in the tournament.

Djokovic is coming off a great year. He won three Grand Slams, and he is hands-down the No. 1 player in the world.

That said, this tournament will be a big letdown.

When a player dominates as much as Djokovic did, it's easy to get complacent. Djokovic could start this season a bit slow, and someone could knock him off.

If he isn't on top of his game, Djokovic could easily go down.

Not to mention, Djokovic will have a huge target on his back.

He's coming off a great year, and players will be hoping to pull off a big upset. Every man will give Djokovic his best match. Djokovic will have to go through tough match after tough match, and it will wear him down.

Later in the year, Djokovic will be able to handle that tough stretch. With that said, it's the first Grand Slam of the year, and he won't be as focused as he should be.

He could overlook an opponent (maybe, say, Lleyton Hewitt?) and drop a match that he should win. Djokovic is a great player, but there are a few too many expectations heading into this tournament.

Finally, Djokovic could easily look too far ahead. He presumably has Andy Murray waiting in the semifinal. Not to mention, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are fighting it out on the other side of the bracket.

Djokovic could come out flat, his opponents could wear him down or he could overlook an opponent.

Djokovic is a great player, but he'll have an extremely disappointing Australian Open.