Roger Federer and Justine Henin Most Favorite for Australian Open 2008

Another Australian Open is going to be started within 24 hours. Players, fans and organizers are eagerly waiting for another grand occasion. Roger Federer and Justine Henin enter the tournament as the top seed for men’s and women’s singles respectively. There is no doubt; both of them are strong contenders to win the Australian Open 2008 title.

For Federer, it would be his third consecutive Australian Open title, whereas it would be the second Australian Open title for Henin. Winning the Australian Open title will see Roger Federer requiring just one more grand slam title to tie with Pete Sampras’s record 14 grand slam singles titles in men’s tennis. Another grand slam singles title will help Henin to tie with Serena Williams’ 8 grand slam titles, which is highest among the active players.

So, there are plenty of goals ahead of them before the kicks of Australian Open 2008. However, things did not go his way for Roger Federer in the 2008. He has withdrawn from a non-tour tournament due to his stomach illness. So, his preparation for the Australian Open was satisfactory. On the other hand, Justine Henin has won the Sydney International tournament, maintaining a 28 match winning streak.

Chron.com reported:

Federer, for his part, is entering his fifth year at No. 1 and, despite the aforementioned "problems" — he pulled out of a major non-tour event last week because he was sick — nobody is quite ready to pronounce him vulnerable in his relentless pursuit of Sampras' record for Grand Slam championships. Federer has 12, half of them claimed in the past two years, and needs two to tie the American, who beat him in a fiercely contested third match of an Asian exhibition series.

"I think I'm going to focus on myself," she said. "I'm just concerned about what I'm going to do. I left Melbourne with a pretty bad feeling two years ago, so I'm glad to be back. I hope I can be at my best level."

So, it seems that Justine Henin is in her prime form. She could not participate here last year because of her personal problems following the break up of her marriage. For Roger Federer, you can not still claim that he has lees chance to win the title of Australian Open. The way he has been playing for the last few years, it seems other players only deserve the runner up trophy.