Crowded at the top: Aussie Open women's draw breakdown

Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com Serena Williams is not much of a favorite to repeat.

Henin does not have an easy draw. In fact, the top half is brutal, featuring the Belgian, defending champ Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport and Jelena Jankovic.

The bottom half presents great opportunities for two of the tournament Top-5 favorites, Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic (with Henin, Serena and Sharapova being the other three). Henin has shown herself more than capable of beating three elite players in a row, most recently at the USO, where she bested Serena, Venus and Sveta Kuznetsova. She's the favorite, although not a big as one as Roger Federer on the men's side.

TOP HALF, FIRST QUADRANT: Henin's first test should come in round three against Francesca Schiavone, but she's far too consistent for the Italian. Round four should bring Tatiana Golovin (who, BTW, has an enticing second round against countrywoman Aravane Rezai), whom she knows very well from last fall and who doesn't have the variety to match Golovin. But don't count the French femme fatale out from taking a set and making it a very long match.

Henin's quarterfinal foe should be Maria Sharapova, who pushed her back against the wall at WTA Championships and, on a great day, has shown the ability to punch through her. But Sharapova has a rough path to get there, including a second-round match-up against Lindsay Davenport, whom she is down 4-1 lifetime, but who is hungry and playing without pressure. You'd have to give Sharapova the edge here, but she'll be pushed hard against LD, then by Julia Vakulenko and then maybe by Elena Dementieva, if she turns her head around.

Still, a Henin-Sharapova quarter is destined to occur and, while on a tremendous serving and returning day Sharapova can pull an upset, the slower court and heavier balls will favor Henin and she'll wear Sharapova down in three.

TOP HALF, SECOND QUADRANT: At least Serena won't have to see Henin again until the semis, rather than worrying about another quarterfinal tango. Serena is the favorite in this quadrant despite her No. 7 seed, and has a very easy draw until the third round, when we will see just how far Victoria Azarenka has progressed. Hopefully, the Belarusian has shaken off her recent injury and will give Serena a tussle, but she doesn't have enough experience yet to grab a win. Nicole Vaidisova does now, but as we saw in last year's semis, she can't run with Williams.

Serena's quarterfinal foe is a pick-'em between Jelena Jankovic and Amelie Mauresmo. JJ has the most enticing first-round match against Austrian teen sensation Tamira Paszek, but she will run her silly. Smart vet. Virginie Razzano could trouble her in third round, but it's really JJ's fourth round that will give her the most concern as Mauresmo can mix it up with the best of them and should have logged enough time on court to rediscover her Slam winning form. But, if the court really is playing as slow as they say, JJ will thwart Amelie in a three-set classic. Then will see whether the Serb can put on a more inspiring performance than she did last year against Serena, when she played as if in a fog. This time, she'll take Serena to three. But just like at the USO against Venus, JJ will giggle her way through a tight loss

Anne-Marie Stark With a new lucrative racket contract with Yonex, Ana Ivanovic has a new racket. But, it won't help her lack of mobility.

BOTTOM HALF, FIRST QUADRANT: This will be a stern test for Ivanovic, who found at the US Open that beating Venus takes a lot more than launching a few seeing-eye forehands. AI should be ready to take the next step this year and looked good in pushing Henin in Sydney.

Ivanovic's draw is straightforward, but she needs to clock in early as Hobart champ Eleni Daniilidou looms in the second round and the competent Katarina Srebotnik should exist in round three. But having to face either Dinara Safina or Alona Bondarenko in round four is a blessing.

Ivanovic will get to the quarters, as will Venus, who for fans' sake, hopefully will get a stern test from Sania Mirza in round three, but Sania's career has been mired in a mini political scandal over the last few days and she's going to have a very hard time keeping her mind on court. If she's not relaxed, Mirza will be gone in the first round against Iroda Tulyaganova, a much better player than her ranking. Sania tends to play better when she's happy and it appears that the criticism coming from her homeland about committing the mortal sin of going barefoot within shouting distance of her national flag has gotten to her. It's a truly absurd situation.

Sania doesn't have a hard enough serve or speed to contend with Venus anyway. She's a B+ version of Ivanovic. There are two other players who could give Venus hell in the fourth round though, Li Na or Marion Bartoli. Both can run and keep the ball deep and, unlike at Wimbledon, Venus is going to have to work the points more. She will and come through to the quarters against AI. This time, Ivanovic will take set, but her serve will fail her in the end.

BOTTOM HALF, SECOND QUADRANT: There's no true title contender in the mix here, as the quarter is lead by Kuznetsova, who is quite consistent and is capable of reaching the final with a great draw. But despite her No. 2 ranking, she's not convincing anyone that her second Slam crown is right around the corner. She'll best Nathalie Dechy in the first round, hit through Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round and then face either the talented Hungarian teen Agnes Szavay, or her Fed Cup teammate, Nadia Petrova. Szavay looks like a better bet because Petrova is sputtering again. Let's take an upset here then, with Szavay taking out Sveta, too.

Could the Hungarian actually reach the semis? Why not? Sixth-seed Anna Chakvetadze has to prove that she's mentally sound again and there's been no indication of that since the US Open. Anna C. will have a tough second round against Peng Shuai, but will make the enigmatic powerballer retire by wrong footing her too many times. In the third round, she should be able to outrun Michaella Krajicek or trick Maria Kirilenko. The fourth round will bring Lucie Safarova or Daniela Hantuchova, and given that Safarova is hurt you have to go with the Slovak. So there you have it - D.H. v. Szavay for spot in the semis. I'll take the veteran this time around.

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