With the first Grand Slam of the 2007 season just days away, how have the men's favourites fared in the run-up to Melbourne?

The world number one chose to play just one warm-up tournament at the Kooyong exhibition, where his first match of the season saw him overcome Radek Stepanek 7-6 6-7 7-6 after saving match points. His next match against former Australian champion Marat Safin was an easier affair, with Federer winning 6-3 7-6. His preparations for next week took a bit of a dent when he was beaten 6-2 3-6 6-3 in the Kooyong final by Andy Roddick.

The top seed opens against German Bjorn Phau in Melbourne. Phau is currently ranked 83 and holds a career-high ranking of 59 from June last year. He reached the second round in Chennai, beating Frenchman Olivier Patience in straight sets before being dispatched by another Frenchman, Fabrice Santoro. Jonas Bjorkman or Olivier Patience await in the second round.

Dangers in Federer's section of the draw include 25th seed Mikhail Youzhny, 14th seed and recent Adelaide champion Novak Djokovic, 18th seed Richard Gasquet and 11th seed Marcos Baghdatis.

Rafeal Nadal's Australian Open preparations didn't go as planned. He was beaten in straight sets in the semi-finals of Chennai by Xavier Malisse, who went on to crush Stefan Koubek in the final. It was the second career title for Malisse, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist.

Nadal suffered a further blow in Sydney when he was forced to retire at 6-5 down during his first round match with local favourite Chris Guccione (who had reached the final in Adelaide the previous week) and it looks doubtful that he will be able to play his best tennis next week in Melbourne.

Nadal meets American Robert Kendrick in a potentially tricky opening round clash. Kendrick stretched Nadal to five sets in their previous encounter in the second round of Wimbledon last year. Kendrick is ranked 90, just three places below his career-best ranking which he achieved at the end of November. He qualified for Auckland and lost to compatriot Mardy Fish in round one.

Nadal's section of the draw includes James Blake, Andy Murray and Lleyton Hewitt.

The Russian enters the Australian Open on a career-high ranking of number 3, but is lacking in competitive match practice. He reached the semis in Doha, where he injured his ankle during his straight sets loss to Andy Murray. He then withdrew from Sydney the following week with a suspected stress fracture in his foot.

The Russian faces Argentinian clay-court specialist Sergio Roitman in his Melbourne first round. Roitman is ranked 79, and plays predominantly on clay. He has yet to play a match in 2007. He meets Gilles Muller or Gaston Gaudio in round two.

Threats in his section include Xavier Malisse, who recently won the title in Chennai, David Nalbandian and Tomas Berdych.

Nalbandian was surprisingly ousted in three sets in the first round in Chennai by unheralded Dane Kristian Pless. The Argentine has been struggling with tendonitis in his wrist.

His Melbourne opener pits him against Janko Tipsarevic. The Serbian is currently ranked 64 and has yet to win a match in 2007. He retired against Lleyton Hewitt in their opening round clash in Adelaide, and was bagelled by Kristof Vliegen in second set of their first round match in Auckland. Nicolas Lapentti or British qualifier Alan Mackin are the second round opponents.

Threats in his section include former world number 2 Tommy Haas, Tomas Berdych, Nikolay Davydenko and Chennai champion Xavier Malisse.

After two runner-up spots in 2004 and 2005, Ivan Ljubicic finally got his hands on the title in Doha with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Andy Murray in the final. It was the Croat's seventh ATP title. The following week, Murray gained some consolation by beating the Croatian in the exhibition tournament in Kooyong.

Ljubicic will meet American Mardy Fish in his Melbourne opener. Fish is ranked 45. He played alongside Ashley Harkleroad for the United States in the Hopman Cup, beating Dmitry Tursunov and Australian Nathan Healey in straight sets, and losing to Frechmen Jerome Haehnel in three sets. He then made it through to the semis in Auckland, beating Mario Ancic 6-4 6-4 along the way. He then lost to David Ferrer. Ljubicic is scheduled to play the winner of the match between Juan Monaco and Nicolas Mahut in the second round.

Dangers in Ljubicic's section include Radek Stepanek, former Australian Open champions Thomas Johansson and Marat Safin, Auckland champion David Ferrer and Kooyong champion Andy Roddick.

James Blake was the defending champion in Sydney final and beat Carlos Moya 6-3 5-7 6-1 to become only the second player to retain the title in Sydney (after Pete Sampras and Lleyton Hewitt).

The American will get a sense of deja-vu in Melbourne as he has been drawn against Moya in the first round in a repeat of the Sydney final. The Spaniard is ranked 44. As well as the Sydney final, he reached the semis in Chennai before being knocked out by losing finalist Stefan Koubek. Wildcard Peter Luczak or qualifier Alex Kuznetsov await in round two.

Blake has Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Fernando Gonzalez and Lleyton Hewitt in his section of the draw.

Andy Roddick stunned Roger Federer in three sets in the final of Kooyong to finally get revenge on his nemesis. It might only have been an exhibition tournament, but it showed that the American has closed the gap on his rival and the result might well sound a warning to the other top players.

Roddick faces Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in round one in Melbourne. The Frenchman is ranked 212 and has been granted a wildcard as part of the reciprocal wildcard agreement between Australia and France. He played a Challenger event in New Caledonia in the New Year, losing in three sets to Stephane Bohli in round one, so it's fair to say he hasn't had chance to play himself into form in preparation for the clash with a pumped-up Roddick, who is eager to reclaim a place at the top of the men's game.

Roddick is in the same section as Ivan Ljubicic and Marat Safin.

The Spaniard reached the final in Auckland, losing 6-4 6-2 to compatriot David Ferrer.

He takes on another Spaniard, Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo in Melbourne. Ramirez-Hidalgo is ranked 56, just below his career-high ranking of 50 from October 2006. He reached round two in Doha, beating local wildcard Sultan Khalfan in straights before Marcos Baghdatis demolished him 6-2 6-0. He lost to Robredo 6-2 6-1 in his Auckland opener. Big-serving Ivo Karlovic or Jurgen Melzer are the potential round two opponents.

Robredo is in the same part of the draw as Federer.

David Ferrer won the Auckland final against Robredo and was thrilled to beat his higher-ranked compatriot in straight sets to claim his first ATP title on a hard-court.

In round one, Ferrer faces Denmark's Kristian Pless, who reached a career-high of 65 back in January 2002 and is currently ranked 82. He beat David Nalbandian in three sets in the opening round in Chennai for his first win over a top 10 player and was ousted in two tie-break sets in round two by Ivo Karlovic. He retired against Robin Vik in his opening qualifying round in Sydney.

Dangers in his section are Ivan Ljubicic, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin.

Novak Djokovic beat local favourite Chris Guccione 63 67 64 in the final in Adelaide, shattering the Australian's hopes of his dream run ending in his first ATP title.

Djokovic meets Nicolas Massu in the first round. Massu is currently ranked 43. He beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in Auckland and lost to Juan Ignacio Chela in three sets in the second round. A clash with either Feliciano Lopez or US qualifier Brian Wilson is on the cards for Djokovic's second round.

The 14th seed is in the same section of the draw as Roger Federer and Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 finalists.

The British number one beat world number three Nikolay Davydenko 7-5 6-2 in the semis of Doha, before being beaten 6-4 6-4 by Ivan Ljubicic in the final. He played the Kooyong exhibition tournament the following week and gained a consolation revenge win over Ljubicic . Roddick then beat him 6-4 6-4 in the semis.

He has an enviable first round match against Alberto Martin. The Spaniard is currently ranked 60, but has ranked 34 in June 2001. He lost in straights in Doha round one to Christophe Rochus, enabling the Belgian to gain a rare first round win. He then beat Gael Monfils 6-4 6-4 in Auckland round one, losing 6-4 6-2 to Tommy Robredo in round two. Round two could be a lot more tricky against either Fernando Verdasco or Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Threats further down the line include James Blake and Rafael Nadal.

The home favourite suffered a surprise 4-6 7-6 6-4 defeat at the hands of Russian Igor Kunitsyn in the round robin stages of Adelaide , which stopped him from reaching the knockout stages. He was dumped by coach Roger Rasheed after the match and withdrew from Sydney the following week. The courts in Melbourne have been speeded up at his request, but a calf injury might prevent him from taking advantage.

He faces American qualifier Michael Russell in the first round in Melbourne. Russell is currently ranked 115 and won a Challenger event in New Caledonia in early January, beating Thierry Ascione and Noam Okun along the way. He lost no more than three games in any one match, and is obviously in good form early on in the season.

Hewitt has Rafael Nadal, James Blake, Andy Murray and Fernando Gonzalez for company in his section of the draw.