Australian Open 2012: Why Week 2 Will Be Even Better Than Week 1

The first week of the Australian Open is in the books, so now we can look forward to the ongoing march to being named champion of the season's first Grand Slam event.

The first week was exciting, as we all saw great play from one Australian entering his prime, Bernard Tomic, while watching another taking one last stab at winning it all, Lleyton Hewitt.

Past champions have fallen, as American Serena Williams was knocked out in the fourth round by the unranked Ekaterina Makarova.

The top four seeds in men's bracket are still intact, as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal aim to potentially take a shot at World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who is the reigning champion of the tournament. Or perhaps it will be Andy Murray or David Ferrer, either of which could give Nole a run for his money.

The women still have their three of their top four seeds alive.

The women's side is interesting as well, with World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki no longer chasing her first Slam title, it appears that Maria Sharapova is looking poised to grab her first in four years.

There are a lot of great storylines heading into week two, so let us take a look at some of the reasons why this week will be better than the last.

Can Sharapova Continue To Dominate?

The world's fourth-best player is looking like a potential champion, and perhaps a return to the spot of World No. 1 is in the cards.

She has been dominating her competition, only dropping one set the entire tournament. She dropped that set against the No. 14 seed Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round, but she bounced back in a big way by taking the second and third 6-2, 6-3 respectively.

Her quarterfinal opponent will be Ekaterina Makarova, who could give her a run for her money. If she were to get past her, she would be pitted against Sara Errani or defending Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.

Any of those three matches could be tough for Sharapova, but her shot at winning it all will be even tougher.

She will either have to defeat Kim Clijsters or Victoria Azarenka. Both have looked great this tournament, but Sharapova has looked even more dominant.

If she can get past all these women, Sharapova will regain her spot as No. 1 in the world.

She still has much to prove, as she has fallen apart late in tournaments before, but anyone who has been watching knows that this is her tournament to lose.

Can Anybody Stop Federer?

From the looks of it, Federer has this tournament in the bag. He will be pitted against Nadal in this year's semifinals, but from the looks of it, Federer can perhaps get through this one easier than many had likely thought.

He has just been so overpowering this tournament, as he remains to be the only player on the men's side yet to drop a set.

In his match against Juan Martin del Potro, he was just dominant from all aspects of the game. He was handing his big serve, he was getting on every shot Delpo tried to get past him and he has just been able to handle his competition with rather ease.

Of course, Nadal is a completely different competitor, but Fed is just looking too good right now. Nadal still needs time to rebuild his game, and it will be difficult for him to knock off his longtime rival when he is playing at such a high level.

He looks like vintage Federer.

Now if he were to get past Nadal, it would remain to be seen how well he would do against Djokovic. If it is Murray, Federer will likely take that match easily, as Murray just doesn't provide a threat to him winning it all.

Djokovic did drop a set against Lleyton Hewitt, and he will have a tough match against David Ferrer in the quarterfinals. He will than either be put against Murray or Kei Nishikori, who is playing strong.Nishikori could get past Murray, but I highly doubt he can take down the World No. 1.

Federer vs. Djokovic would be an excellent final, and at this point it is really hard to decide who could take that match. Fed is playing at a level that many of us are surprised to see, but Djokovic is playing at an elite level himself.

Both players have a good shot at taking it all this year, but if Federer continues this play against Nadal in the semifinals, it will be extremely hard to bet against him.

Jeff Chase is a Featured Columnist for the Chicago Cubs and Arizona State football.