MELBOURNE, Australia -- The first matches of the round of 16 will feature American favorites Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, but the home crowd will be behind unorthodox Andrew Ilie and Patrick Rafter. Whatever happens, expect to see some good tennis.

	Mal's Picks
	Washington Former ATP Tour pro MaliVai Washington is providing ESPN.com with in-depth analysis during the Australian Open. Washington, a tennis analyst for ESPN, reached the 1996 Wimbledon final.

Andre Agassi (6) vs. Andrew Ilie
The odds on favorite is for Agassi to win this match. He's playing some really good tennis. One thing to his advantage is he's not played a lot so far. He's had two three set matches and Friday David Prinosil defaulted in the second set because of the heat. These short matches bode well for Agassi in terms of being fresh walking onto the court, Ilie has already equaled his own best ever performance at a major, so he's obviously playing his best tennis right now. The players that he's beaten aren't slouches, either. This is a match that will be on center court. It will have a lot of home crowd support for Ilie. Pick: Agassi

Pete Sampras (6) vs. Todd Martin
This is a tough pick between two American players. Martin has taken down a seed in Cedric Pioline (13). He's playing good tennis right now. Favor him over Sampras because of the way Sampras looked in his last match. With the heat on the court, Sampras looked ill and limping with blisters on his feet. Pick: Martin

Patrick Rafter (12) vs.Tim Henman (8)
This will probably be one of the premier matchups of the tournament. The players are two classic serve and volleyers. They are both playing very well. Henman is in the round of 16 having lost only one set so far. And by reaching the fourth round he's equaled his best ever performance at the Australian Open. But Rafter has had a couple of tough matches, and he played brilliant tennis Friday. Pick: Rafter

Marat Safin (2) vs. Dominik Hrbaty (14)
You have to consider Safin over Hrbaty because of the tennis Safin is playing. He dominated Michal Tabara on Friday. Safin's a volatile player who is able to get on a roll and gain confidence. Based on the three matches so far, if he keeps winning, he could become unstoppable. Pick: Safin

Very little has been said about Magnus Norman in this championship. He's kind of quietly made his way through the third round. Expect Norman to defeat Sebastien Grosjean. Yevgeny Kafelnikov had a battle the other day against Nicolas Kiefer. When you have a player of his caliber who fights through a tough five-set match it gives them a little wake-up call. He should go on to play some pretty good tennis the rest of the tournament.

Greg Rusedski beating Gustavo Kuerten was unexpected. However, when you beat the No. 1 player it gives you a lot of confidence. That lift will get him back on track from where he was a year ago before being injured and dropping in the rankings. Now, after appearing healthy, he seems to be getting his game back. Expect Rusedski to get through the quarterfinals.