Can you give us more details on the speed of the new Plexicushion surface? It's supposed to be 'slower' but Andy Roddick and Roger Federer both broke their record for aces during a match. – Anjali 

The court is medium paced and not much different than the rebound from years prior.

The difference is that the balls are getting bigger, i.e. puffing up after a few games of play and are playing heavy. It takes big power to hit winners out there – which is why Sharapova, Ivanovic, Federer, Djokovic, Tsonga are the ones left. A light hitter has no chance of putting balls away here.

Is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga the real deal? – Rich 

His game most definitely is real. My only question about J-W is whether he'll be able to sustain this level of play going forward.

If he stays healthy, hungry and handles the pressure of expectation and fame well, we have a new top 5 player on our hands for sure. With the caliber of player he has beaten here, he sure doesn't appear to be a one-hit wonder.

Would Andy Roddick have performed better against Phillip Kohlschrieber if he had stood closer to the baseline? – Don 

Kohlschreiber played at a very high level and was the dominant player from the baseline. I thought Andy needed to be more aggressive and try to bully him around, but to Kohlschreiber's credit, he put the hammer down and kept Andy at bay. It was an excellent level of tennis.

What impact do you think Tony Roche will have on Lleyton Hewitt's game? Can he reach the top 10 again? – Deepak 

Rochey is one of the best. He has as good a chance as anyone of getting Lleyton back to peak form.

What's going on with the Williams sisters? Where their early losses a blip of a sign of things to come? – Celia 

The Williams sisters will be disappointed with their results here but it's just one tournament, and early in the season. Expect big things from them this year... I do.

What are players looking at when examining the balls that they are going to serve with? – David 

Players want the ball with the least amount of fuzz so they get more on their first serve (less wind resistance).

If Roger Federer had been playing in your day, do you think you could have beaten him? – Ding 

I had to deal with Connors, McEnroe, Becker, Lendl, Edberg, Agassi, Sampras, Chang, Rafter, Ivanisevic, Muster, etc... I don't want to think about Roger if you don't mind – psychologically, I'm still suffering the effects of the guys I did deal with in the 90's!

The tennis was beyond awesome, but how did you manage to stay awake for Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis, which carried on till 4:45 am?
Amazing. – Georgie 

When the tennis is that good you don't need much – but a few espressos along the way helped!

How much difference does changing racquets make to a player? Have you noticed any players (like Djokovic or Ivanovic) improving noticeably with new racquets at this tournament? – Karl 

Unless a player makes a dramatic change in style, it's hard to say what the racket is bringing to the table. Most of the time its the archer, not the arrow, who makes the difference.

What do you think of the way seedings are done in tennis – drawing No.s 5-8 randomly against No.s 1-4 rather than having No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No 7, etc.? – Barham 

I prefer the older way of 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc. Players earn their rankings and should reap the benefit.

What's the status of your documentary "Unstrung"? – Jon 

Disney bought the rights to it and the plan is for it be distributed later this year. No firm details at the moment.

Are any new players joining the Outback Tour next year? – Carolyn

Last year Sampras and Phillipoussis were new additions to the Outback Champions Tour. We hope to see Michael Chang back this year (he played in 2006 and got injured) and are in talks with several other new potential players as well.

Jim Courier responded via email from the Australian Open in Melbourne, where he is serving as a commentator for Channel Seven. TENNIS.com reserves the right to edit questions for length and format.