It’s not quite the U.S. Open Series, but a new-look Australian Open Series in 2009 will provide plenty of excitement leading up to the first Grand Slam of 2009.

The U.S. Open Series, of course, features two Masters Series events in Canada and Cincinnati, as well as tournaments in Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New Haven, and the winner of the series gets double prize money at the ensuing U.S. Open.

With the Australian Open beginning the third Monday in January, there clearly isn’t enough time to produce anything that extensive. There are only two weeks available between the start of the calendar year and the start of the Aussie Open.

Still, 2009’s Australian Open Series will be bigger and better than ever. Two tournaments (one each week) will take place in Brisbane and Sydney, and both will be combined men’s (ATP) and women’s (WTA) events. A third tournament in Hobart, Australia, is exclusively a WTA Tour event and will be going on simultaneously to the tournament in Sydney.

Brisbane is a new host, as the previously separate men’s (the Next Generation Adelaide International) and women’s (Gold Coast’s Mondial Australian Women’s Hardcourts) events. Players who have already committed on the men’s side are Novak Djokovic (and his brother, Marko), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Marcos Baghdatis, Richard Gasquet, and Mardy Fish. Women’s commitments have already been received from Ana Ivanovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Na Li, and Samantha Stosur.

“I am expecting a high quality field, some excellent weather and a great venue,” Ivanovic said. “It will be the perfect launching pad for my preparation for the Australian Open.”

At the Medibank International in Sydney one week later, Dmitry Tursunov is the defending champion on the men’s side. He will be joined by Tsonga and Gasquet, who teamed up to win the doubles title earlier this year and will be playing back-to-back weeks leading up the Australian Open 2009 following their appearances in Brisbane. Also on the men’s menu are David Nalbandian, Gilles Simon, Lleyton Hewitt, and Tommy Robredo. Women who have committed to Sydney include Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina, and Amelie Mauresmo. There will be no defending champion on the women’s side, as now-retired Justine Henin captured the trophy in 2008.

Sydney is still seeking its greatest coup, which it hopes will come in the form of either Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray, or both. “We may be an outside chance, but as long as we are a chance I am going after them,” said tournament director Craig Watson of the chances of getting Nadal and Murray to play. “We have a terrific men’s field with the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, David Nalbandian, and Tommy Robredo. But Nadal and Murray would bolster any field in the world.”

The Moorilla Hobart International is not as big in terms of prize money or names of players, but it is a good chance for several of the second-tier women to gain momentum heading into Melbourne. Patty Schnyder is the lone commitment at this point, although one can only assume that Eleni Daniilidou, who captured the championship this season, will be back to defend her title.

The Domain Tennis Centre in Hobart will unveil new courts just as the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre did earlier this year. All of the Australian Open Series tournaments will be played on the same True Blue Plexicushion surface as the Australian Open.

“The upgrades to the facilities in Sydney and Hobart, as well as the brand new complex in Brisbane, will ensure the future growth of the AO Series in this changing world environment for tennis,” said the CEO of Tennis Australia, Steve Wood. “It will strengthen the attraction for top players to prepare here in Australia prior to the Australian Open. All three events will have top quality fields and provide tennis fans in three states with the chance to see some great tennis,” Wood stated.

“With many players coming out of the northern hemisphere’s winter, the AO Series events give them the opportunity to acclimatise and get some world-class matches prior to the Australian Open,” added Wood.

The Australian Open Series, however, is not the only option players have for fine-tuning their games before the big one in Melbourne. Men’s events will also be taking place in Doha, Qatar and Chennai, India while the Brisbane tournament is going on, and in Auckland, New Zealand while the event in Sydney is going on.

All three of those tournaments have done some nice work luring away talent from the Australian Open Series. Roger Federer will be in Doha, and presumably Andy Murray will return to defend his 2008 title. Carlos Moya, Nikolay Davydenko, and Stanislas Wawrinka are the early singles commitments so far for the Chennai Open. Hometown heroes Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will also be making doubles appearances, with Lukas Dlouhy and Mark Knowles, respectively. The Bryan Brothers (Bob and Mike) will also be taking part in the doubles event.

The Heineken Open in Auckland has already booked Juan Martin Del Potro and Spaniards David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro. Tournament director Richard Palmer is especially excited about landing Del Potro. “He really is the big mover on the tour,” Palmer explained of Del Potro. “He won four tournaments in a row; how many people do that? Even your Nadals and Federers didn’t do that as a teenager. It’s a pretty phenomenal effort.”

The women will be competing in Auckland at the ASB Classic one week earlier, while the Brisbane event is ongoing. Dementieva, Nadia Petrova, Caroline Wozniacki, and most recently Katarina Srebotnik are the headliners for Auckland so far. “The confirmation of Katarina caps off a terrific top-four players for the 2009 ASB Classic,” said tournament director Brenda Perry. “Katarina is a very talented player who is very popular in Auckland and it’s great to have her back following her best ever season.” The full tournament list will be revealed on November 26.

Not to be forgotten is the Kooyong Classic, a men’s event which often steals the most headlines despite the fact that it is just an exhibition event. It often draws some of the best players in the world, and 2009 will be no different. The field of eight players will feature Roger Federer, James Blake, Stanislas Wawrinka, Fernando Gonzalez, Ernests Gulbis, Marcos Baghdatis, Marat Safin, and Marin Cilic.

Clearly, even though many tennis fans consider the Australian Open to be the true beginning of every season, a lot will be going on well before the curtain is raised in Melbourne. Led by the new and improved Australian Open Series, the first two weeks of 2009 will reveal a lot on both the men’s and women’s sides in terms of who is a contender for the Australian Open 2009 and who is just a pretender.