MELBOURNE, Australia -- It's looking like a fairly well-balanced draw.

Lleyton Hewitt's the top seed, and although he hasn't played that well in Australia, the courts are playing a little bit quicker this year and that will help him because he prefers a faster hard court like the U.S. Open.

	McEnroe's Take
	McEnroe Former ATP Tour pro Patrick McEnroe is providing ESPN.com with in-depth analysis during the U.S. Open. McEnroe, a tennis analyst for ESPN, is the U.S. Davis Cup team captain.

He has a potential tricky third-round match with Gustavo Kuerten. Hewitt's path, at least to the quarterfinals, should be fairly smooth.

Once there, I suspect Hewitt will run into Andy Roddick, the ninth seed, who has a pretty favorable draw to get to the quarterfinals. Jiri Novak as the No. 7 seed is the higher seed in Roddick's section, but Roddick's game matches up well with the consistent Czech.

The other half of the top of the draw is a bit stronger with Marat Safin, James Blake, Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, who is due for a breakout in a Grand Slam, Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian, the man he beat in the semis at Wimbledon, the X-Man Xavier Malisse, and the ultra-talented Roger Federer.

Safin certainly is the favorite in my mind to reach the semis. His game is very well suited for the Rebound Ace surface. Assuming he is healthy, I pick him as a favorite to get to the semis, but any one of those five youngsters mentioned are capable of breaking through, as well.

As for the bottom half of the draw, Andre Agassi has to be delighted. He managed to avoid one of the real tough opponents that has given him trouble in the past. Albert Costa is scheduled to meet Agassi in the quarters, but I don't expect that to happen because Costa has had troubles since winning the French Open last year.

I'm looking for an Agassi-Grosjean quarterfinal. That could be a dangerous matchup for Agassi, although the A-train's game is perfectly suited to the medium-pace Rebound Ace surface, and Agassi cruised past Grosjean in the Kooyong Open final Saturday.

As for Agassi's potential semifinal opponent, look for a Spaniard to come through -- either Juan Carlos Ferrero or Carlos Moya. Also keep an eye on the man from Thailand, Paradorn Srichaphan, who is due for a big-time result in a major.