• What the Deuce

More twists and turns than a John Grisham novel

Maria Kirilenko will almost certainly see her ranking soar after her impressive run at the Australian Open © Getty Images

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Just what is going on in women's tennis? At the first major tournament of the year in Melbourne we've seen big name after big name fall by the wayside. If watching Roger Federer take on Rafael Nadal is like Chelsea versus Manchester United, then the women's draw must surely be the FA Cup.

Just as giantkillers Leeds enjoyed an inspired victory to knock out Manchester United, in the opening stages in Melbourne we have had our own share of upsets. The first giant to be slain was three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova, admittedly still on the road to recovery from injury, but the unseeded Maria Kirilenko pulled off an impressive upset nonetheless. And she did it again in the fourth round, beating the second seed (albeit injured) Dinara Safina to make her first Grand Slam quarter-final.

Add to that list of casualties Ana Ivanovic, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova and the quarter-finals are looking more Southend United than Manchester United.

Kim Clijsters was the fairytale heroine in New York, winning the US Open as a wildcard in just her third tournament back from retirement, but now seeded 15th in Melbourne, she too fell early. In her first Grand Slam in two years, former world No. 1 Justine Henin is still on course to repeat a similar feat, and with Safina, Clijsters and Kuznetsova already out of the way, few would bet against her making the final.

Henin's second-round tie against Dementieva was a match worthy of the final - the world No. 5 was unfortunate to face the unseeded Henin so early on. Like her compatriot Nikolay Davydenko, Dementieva was a dark horse in Melbourne, having defended her Sydney title against Serena Williams; she was quietly getting the results while the likes of Sharapova and Henin took the limelight.

Just one of the top five women's seeds has made it into the last-eight; imagine a men's quarter-final draw without Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic? Juan Martin del Potro's defeat was shocking enough, but for four of the top five players in the world not to make it through to the last-eight would be scandalous.

Like the romance of the FA Cup, the Australian Open has provided its fair share of underdog stories. But as much as we all love the idea of Scarborough Town making it to the cup final, the reality is that Roger Federer would steam-roll a 15-year-old kid ranked 200 places below him.

And though it makes a great story that world No. 58 Kirilenko has upset both Sharapova and Safina, ultimately in the final of a Grand Slam you would expect to see a finale; a climax; the best two players going head to head. The women's final could end up lasting all of 45 minutes as the Goliath Serena regains her title against an unseeded David. As much as we love an underdog, we also want to see the best tennis, and while that means Federer against Nadal (or Andy Murray of course) in the men's game, with all due respect, Kirilenko versus Na Li for example is not the kind of match-up the tournament organisers would have had in mind for their final.

Jo Carter is assistant editor of ESPN.co.uk

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