As the 2009 Australian Open commences, there are several talented unseeded players who could post big wins and/or advance into the later rounds of the tournament… they include:

WOMEN:
•    Rising Romanian teenager Sorana Cirstea
•    Hard-serving Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
•    Former top tenner and Grand Slam semifinalist Nicole Vaidisova
•    Improved Aussie lefthander Casey Dellacqua
•    Aussie Grand Slam doubles champion Samantha Stosur
•    Russian Elena Vesnina who started off the year by reaching the Auckland final
•    Israeli Shahar Peer who reached the Australian Open quarters two years ago
•    Fast-rising and hard-serving German teenager Sabine Lisicki
•    Talented left-handed former Australian Open quarterfinalist Czech Lucie Safarova
•    Indian tennis star, Sania Mirza, on the comeback from injury

MEN:
•    Hard-serving six foot six inch American Sam Querrey
•    Former Australian Open finalist Spaniard Carlos Moya
•    Tall and smooth serving Croatian Mario Ancic
•    Unpredictable Serb Janko Tipsarevic
•    2008 French Open quarterfinalist, Latvian Ernests Gulbis
•    Fast-rising Japanese tennis star Kei Nishikori
•    Former Grand Slam Champion, Aussie Lleyton Hewitt, on the comeback from hip surgery
•    Left-handed Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci
•    Former Australian Open finalist and Wimbledon semifinalist Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis
•    Super-tall, hard-serving wildcard American, John Isner