Australian Open 2011: Who’s Out Already?

Bust out the energy drinks of questionable origin and set your DVRs; the 2011 Australian Open is upon us. Has been upon us, in fact, but thanks to it taking place on the other side of the world in midsummer, you probably didn’t see the first “day” of early-round play. Americanized rooting interests have been set, but you may have noticed a few names missing. Below, a quick rundown of who you won’t see playing on Monday night and beyond.
First, the dearly departed: Already ousted in first-round play are No. 23 Nikolay Davydenko, whose presence we typically enjoy because he looks like a sickly Victorian ward but hits like a house on fire, No. 18 Sam Querrey, who is American and therefore of interest, also-American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and No. 28 Daniela Hantuchova. Also notably absent: Serena Williams, who withdrew well in advance while still nursing that foot injury (did we ever decide whether that was sustained in a World Cup barfight?), and the recently retired Taylor Dent and Elena Dementieva. Dent cited injuries and his kid as reasons for bowing out, but Dementieva’s got bigger plans: Check out The Daily Forehand’s coverage of her being awarded the vice-presidency of the Russian Tennis Federation, and snicker at the clear evidence that she could totally beat up Dmitry Medvedev.