Top seeds earning high marks at Australian Open

Justine Henin extended her winning streak to 32 matches in reaching the quarterfinals. AP

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Through seven days, it's been fair dinkum Australian Open. What does this mean? Beats us. But we've complied with the editorial rule to use at least one Aussie phrase. Anyway, it's been a Plexicushion-tastic week of tennis. Exceptional crowds, generally cooperative weather, some terrific tennis, and only a few ugly nationalistic episodes. And despite some upsets, week two is dripping with intrigue. But before we look ahead, our midterm grades:

A

Top seeds: Most of the real contenders are still alive. Though Janko Tipsarevic nearly pulled off the biggest upset in recent history.

French Revolution: Old, young, male and female, there's still a lot of Gallic representation left at this writing.

Philipp Kohlschreiber: A "dangerous floater" no more, the guy hit more than 100 winners in his classic five-set upset of Andy Roddick.

Casey Dellacqua: Aussie adding some nice local flavor to the event with upsets of Patty Schnyder and former champ Amelie Mauresmo.

Gustavo Kuerten: Looks like the Roland Garros is the end of the road for former No.1. Newport awaits.

B

American men: At this writing there are still three left. Who would have guessed they'd be James Blake, Sam Querrey and Vince Spadea?

Lindsay Davenport: Nice to see her back competing at Slams. And Davenport did become the WTA alltime leading money winner last week. But her loss to Maria Sharapova suggests her ability to challenge for slams might not be the foregone conclusion some us assumed.

Officiating: Normally not an issue but Ivanovic, Davenport and Venus Williams are among the players who have taken issue with the umpires and line judges.

Tamira Paszek: No question she's a player to watch. But her squandering match points against third-seeded Jankovic is the kind of loss that can haunt a player for months.

Svetlana Kuznetsova: Love the outfits. But second seed goes down quietly to Agnieszka Radwanksa.

C

Andy Murray: Falling to Jo-Wilfried (Brit Killah) Tsonga in round one isn't a horrible loss. But it's not an auspicious start to a new season under a new coach.