Barry Cowan says Justine Henin must be viewed as a genuine contender for the Australian Open crown.
Aggressive tactics make unseeded Henin a genuine title threat
She needed to produce a stunning third-round recovery to survive but Justine Henin is still alive in the Australian Open and I now believe she has a chance of winning it.
At this moment in time the Belgian, playing in her first Grand Slam since coming out of retirement, is right up there as a contender for the title with Serena and Venus Williams as far as I'm concerned.
And what's more not only does she have the experience of winning here in 2004 to draw on but she has the added advantage of not being in the same half of the draw as the Williams sisters.
The one area of concern for Henin after her 3-6 6-4 6-2 success against Alisa Kleybanova is the leg injury she is carrying and we'll just have to see how much that affects her game.
But if she is close to full fitness I would back her to beat Yanina Wickmayer in the last-16 and either Nadia Petrova or Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals; then, if she does get to the last four, I can see her defeating Dinara Safina as well given how suspect the Russian is mentally.
Forward
Henin's second round match against Elena Dementieva - a near-three hour classic that the Belgian won 7-5, 7-6 - was the best match of the tournament's opening five days simply because the quality of play was so high.
It's clear from the way Henin played in Brisbane earlier this month and again here in Melbourne that she's worked hard on her game since deciding to return to the tour; she's coming forward a lot more and is being more aggressive, while her opponents seem nervous of playing her.
Not many women advance to the net to volley these days but Henin was prepared to take the fight to Dementieva; that can only be good for women's tennis and hopefully we'll see more players following her example and developing that aspect of their game.
Springboard
Elena Baltacha could do a lot worse than study Henin's method and approach.
The Briton will draw a great deal of experience from her run to the third round, which will hopefully give her the springboard she needs to get inside the world's top 50.
No-one doubts her ability but now she has to try to work out how to win matches when she is not playing her best tennis and how to cross the massive gap that exists in the women's game between those at the top and those aiming to get there.
Elena talked a good game before her third round meeting with Safina but realistically she was always going to struggle against the Russian, who for all of the problems she had last year remains a great ball-striker.
But the Briton should not be too dismayed by her 6-1 6-2 defeat. The progress she has made in recent months means she will get offered more direct acceptances to tournaments which in turn will give her every chance of boosting her ranking.
Open
And then there were five....
At the start of this tournament I felt six guys had a chance of winning the men's title but I can't see Juan Martin Del Potro coming through from that group anymore.
There are a few issues with his wrist injury and he's struggled in all three of his matches so far, including his third round victory over Florian Mayer. Put simply, I don't believe he can win the Australian Open unless he's 100 percent fit.
Each of the other five have played well in their own right and the title is wide open, as far as I'm concerned.
Rafael Nadal's third round victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber was a match of real quality.
The German is a very, very talented player who beat Andy Roddick a couple of years ago in Melbourne and overcame Novak Djokovic at the French.
He struggles to maintain that level of performance on a consistent basis but on his day he can light it up and play top-10 tennis.
Nadal had to play very well to come through in four sets but he never looked like he would lose the tie.
He now faces his first test of the tournament in the shape of Ivo Karlovic in the last-16. This is a match he could lose because the Croatian is a dangerous opponent who can chip away at your confidence, but I fully expect Nadal to have enough to come through.
Aggressively
I've also been impressed with the way Andy Murray has begun his campaign; he's dealt with his first three opponents comfortably and seems to have a more mature persona on and off court.
It's as though he took the chance at the end of last year to sit back and review what went well and identify the areas he can improve and is benefitting as a result.
He appears to be playing more aggressively but the real test will come when he's got to play someone who potentially can beat him because, with the best will in the world, Kevin Anderson, Marc Gicquel and Florent Serra don't fall into that category.
Facing John Isner in the next round will represent a step up in every sense; you always worry about playing someone of his stature, who at six foot nine, can be an imposing figure. The American certainly played well to beat 12th-seed Gael Monfils in straight sets.
But what Andy is very good at when he plays someone like Isner is making that one extra ball; he'll send back a lot of returns and should have more than enough depth to his game to win the important rallies.
Brilliant
Roger Federer struggled in his opening match against Igor Andreev which perhaps wasn't surprising given that when they met in the 2008 US Open fourth round their match went to five sets.
Andreev has not been in good form but it looked as though Federer was a little bit anxious, a touch tentative. However that all vanished by the time the second round arrived and the Swiss was brilliant against Victor Hanescu; he hit his forehand beautifully and moved well.
Like Djokovic, who is looking pretty solid without playing spectacular tennis, Federer is simply trying to negotiate his way through his opening matches without playing his best tennis and there is plenty more to come from both players. It should be an enthralling second week.
