It will be the fourth career head-to-head meeting between Nadal and Haas when the two players square off in Rod Laver Arena on Saturday. Nadal leads the head-to-head series 3-0, but Haas has played him close, especially in Cincinnati last summer. The German had plenty of chances in each set before succumbing 6-4, 7-6(0).

After an elbow injury derailed the rest of his 2008 season, Haas seems to be back in the same form that paved the way to a successful summer and gave Nadal trouble at the Masters Series Cincinnati. He has been dominant through two rounds this week, rolling over both Eduardo Schwank and Falvio Cipolla in straight sets. That, along with his Australian Open history, should give Haas plenty of confidence. He missed last season’s Australian Open with yet another injury, but he is three-time semifinalist and has the game to go far once again.

Nadal also could not have asked for a much better start to the fortnight. The No. 1 player in the world clobbered Christophe Rochus 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 in his opener and then eased past Roko Karanusic 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Nadal’s early season form had come into a bit of a question after he returned from knee tendinitis and fell to Andy Murray in an Abu Dhabi exhibition and to Gael Monfils in Doha, Qatar. Now, however, it looks like the Spaniard could be approaching the level of play that carried him to titles at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the Beijing Olympics.

Haas has the potential to push Nadal around if he is making a lot of first serves and if his world-class one-handed backhand is on fire. That would allow the underdog to dictate play, but only if Nadal reverts back to playing well behind the baseline, which he has not been doing recently. While hard courts would normally favor Haas, the hard stuff in Melbourne is playing extremely slow, so that could crush any chance of an upset.

“He’s going to be the first big opponent I think and it’s gonna be a very good test to see how I am shaping up,” Nadal said of Haas. “I’m going to have to play very well if I want to have a chance to win.”

Also headlining Saturday action is Fernando Gonzalez vs. Richard Gasquet. Shockingly, the two men have never played each other. Not once. Making it all the more surprising is that Gonzalez has been on the tour for 10 years and Gasquet has been a professional for seven; it’s almost inexplicable.

So–since head-to-head history gets thrown out the window–who has the upper hand in their first-ever meeting?

Gonzalez, much to the chagrin of the Australian faithful in Rod Laver Arena, turned back Lleyton Hewitt 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. It was an impressive victory for Gonzalez, who is still a solid 14th in the world at 28 years old. In the second round he dispatched Guillermo Canas in straight sets.

Gasquet has fallen to No. 25 in the world rankings after reaching a career-high of seventh in 2007, a year in which he also qualified for the Masters Cup. 2008 was far more trying for the Frenchman, and what happened at Wimbledon was a microcosm of Gasquet’s year–if not entire career: lots of potential but fewer results. He led Andy Murray two sets to love and served for the match in the third, only to eventually lose in five. Gasquet never recovered over the rest of the season, but he began 2009 with a solid semifinal performance in Sydney. In his first two Melbourne matches he ousted Diego Junqueira in four sets and Denis Istomin in straights.

Also in action is 2008 Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who will take on Dudi Sela. Tsonga turned back Juan Monaco in his opener and then survived a thriller with Ivan Ljubicic in round two. Sela upset Rainer Schuettler in the first round and then dominated big Romanian Victor Hanescu to book his place in the third round. Sela’s only real chance in this one—most likely—is if Tsonga’s back flares up again.