As the first weekend of the Australian Open arrives, the women’s field shows great promise while the men promise more slow days, especially the two top seeds.

So far, we have witnessed a few serious surprises and some mild ones. Biggest of all is that Serena Williams, as of this writing, remains in the draw, while her sister Venus has been dismissed. Serena’s possible fourth-round contest against Maria Sharapova, a rematch of last year’s semifinal, would be one of the highlights of the next few days.

Another unexpected departure, that of no. 5 seed Mary Pierce, has blown apart the draw for Martina Hingis.

The 25-year-old Swiss, a three-time champion in Australia and former world no. 1, lost five games in two matches this week as six of the eight seeded players in her quarter of the draw fell away. Only no. 15 Francesca Schiavone and no. 2 Kim Clijsters remain. Clijsters, perhaps the favorite before she injured her hip during a warm-up event, is playing in pain. Her lower back is now sore, too, and there is a chance she will withdraw. Even if she doesn’t, she will not beat a player as steady and smart as Hingis if she cannot move and makes 48 unforced errors, as she did in her second-round match.

Little was expected of Hingis this early in her comeback, but she is now a legitimate contender for the semifinals and even the final, considering the poor play of Amelie Mauresmo, the highest seed remaining in that half of the draw, and the inexperience of 16-year-old Nicole Vaidisova, whose firepower is immense but might not be enough to nullify Hingis’s guile.

On the other half of the women’s draw, Lindsay Davenport might be under the impression that Hingis, not Davenport, is the top seed. The 29-year-old American has a difficult road to her first major title in six years. From this point on every opponent likely will be a seeded player, with Justine Henin-Hardenne and Sharapova, who won her third-round match yesterday 6-0, 6-1 over Jelena Kostanic, perhaps waiting in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Davenport has played average tennis so far and must hit her stride soon.

In the men’s draw, Roger Federer looked untouchable this week against two middling opponents. Tommy Haas, who upset Federer in an exhibition event this month, should prove more of a challenge this weekend, but Federer otherwise would face no one ranked higher than no. 5 Nikolay Davydenko en route to the final.

Federer can thank Lleyton Hewitt for easing his way. After barely beating an inferior player in the first round, Hewitt lost in unimpressive fashion to Juan Ignacio Chela, the Argentine who spit in Hewitt’s direction during their meeting in Melbourne last year. Hewitt strained his ankle during the match and fired 64 errors. The loss is all but certain to end an admirable streak for Hewitt: he has lost to the eventual champion in his last seven majors.

Sadly, Hewitt’s poor play has all but ensured that this half of the draw will not produce any excitement, unless the often injured Haas plays up to, or beyond, his great abilities against Federer. There is one other contest that this columnist would like to see, not for any aesthetic pleasure it might offer, but for the sake of statistics: Federer versus Dominik Hrbaty.

In two matches, Hrbaty played 10 sets, 103 games, and 662 points over six hours and 54 minutes. Federer played six sets, 48 games, and 293 points over two hours and 35 minutes. If the two meet in the quarterfinals next week, Hrbaty might have put in three times as many hours as Federer and played 700 more points. It surely would be one of the greatest disparities in freshness in the history of tennis.

Andy Roddick, who defeated Julien Benneteau yesterday 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, anchors the bottom half of the draw. He should move into next week’s quarterfinals with little trouble. Once there, the real test begins, first against either Ivan Ljubicic or Thomas Johansson, and then perhaps David Nalbandian or fellow American James Blake. Through three matches, Roddick’s first-serve percentage is .598. Last year Roddick maintained an incredible percentage of .660 for the season. If he reaches the final against Federer, he will need to serve 70% or above to improve his 1-10 career mark against the world no. 1.

Though this half of the draw is hardly packed with the fantastic match-ups we witnessed last year – Agassi v. Federer, Safin v. Federer, Hewitt v. Nalbandian, and Hewitt v. Roddick – at least there is some life in it. Roddick and company are a fine mix of styles and talents. Too bad it’s all but certain they are playing for second place.

tperrotta@nysun.com