Wozniacki, Kerber, Kvitova and Kuznetsova make the quarter-finals of Tokyo

Caroline Wozniacki is back to her winning ways, as she moved to the quarter-finals of the Tokyo with an impressive win over Magdalena Rybarikova bread-sticking her opponent in both sets. Awaiting Wozniacki in the quarter-finals is Lucie Safarova who defeated Samantha Stosur. Wozniacki won the match 61 61. Wozniacki is also making a late push towards Istanbul and with other hopefuls (Stephens, Jankovic, Vinci, Halep) out, she can make up some ground with some solid results here. Safarova and Wozniacki have split their 4 prior meetings.

Angelique Kerber, like Wozniacki is trying to make a late push towards Istanbul, as she got her first career win over Ana Ivanovic. She beat Ivanovic 64 62. Awaiting Kerber in the quarter-finals is the highest seed standing in the draw, Agnieszka Radwanska who defeated Cibulkova for a spot in quarter-finals. Kerber has a tougher task at hand if she is to make a push towards Istanbul.

Petra Kvitova and Svetlana Kuznetsova's 3rd round matches were postponed owing to rain yesterday, but both players won their matches earlier in the day today to book the only quarter-finals spot left in the draw. Kvitova defeated American youngster Madison Keys 62 62. Kuznetsova was down 4-1 when the play was stopped yesterday, but regrouped when the match was resumed today to win the first set in the tie-break and then breeze through the second set against Sorana Cristea, winning the match 76(3) 61. Kuznetsova and Kvitova are scheduled to play later tomorrow for a spot in the semi-finals.

Ivanovic to meet Kerber in Tokyo third round - Tokyo 2013

Ana Ivanovic breezed through the second round, defeating Elina Svitolina 6-3 6-0 to book a spot in the third round and a meeting with Angelique Kerber.

Interestingly, Ivanovic served at just 43% and despite that lost just 3 games. Ivanovic was broken only once and that came in the first set. She saved all the four break points she faced in the second set. Svitolina's serve completely fell apart in the second set as she won a total of 4 points on her serve. She failed to win a single point on her second serve in the second set.

Ivanovic leads the head to head against Kerber 3-0 with two of those 3 wins coming this year, one in the quarter-finals of Madrid, and the other in the Fed-cup semi-finals.

Ivanovic should be the favourite walking into the match, however, she will have to improve her serve against a player of the Kerber's caliber if she wants to win the match and make the quarter-final of Tokyo.

U.S Open 2013 Draw Analysis - WTA

U.S Open draw was unveiled yesterday. Serena Williams, the top seed and the defending champion, has Agnieszka Radwanska and Li Na drawn in her half. The good thing for Serena is she will have to face one of them, not that it matters to Serena, since both Radwanska and Li have a combined total of 1 win against SerenaWilliams.

Second seed and last year’s finalist Victoria Azarenka has Sara Errani and Petra Kvitova drawn in her half of the draw. In fact, Kvitova is in Azarenka’s quarter. The two have not played since their epic clash in the final of World Tour Finals in 2011, which Kvitova won in 3 sets. Their careers have taken opposite paths since that clash. Azarenka has won 2 majors and made a final since then, whereas Kvitova has failed to make a grand slam final since then.

Let us now break-down each quarter:

First Quarter:

For full first quarter of draw, please click here. 

Serena Williams is the favourite to make the quarter-final, however, she has a tough opener in the former Roland Garros Champion and former U.S Open quarter-finalist Franchesca Schiavone. Players are prone in their openers, especially the top players. However, given Serena’s form, she should not be troubled.

The spicy thing in this quarter is the potential 4^th round meeting between Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens. Sloane Stephens defeated Serena Williams in the quarter-finals of Australian Open this year in 3 sets.

Angelique Kerber is at the bottom of the quarter and has been in a slump. She went 4-3 in the U.S Open series and given her draw I don’t see her making the quarter-final unless she steps it up.

Youngsters under the radar:

- Eugenie Bouchard – She has a potential second round encounter with Kerber

- Lauren Davis – She plays Carla Saurez Navaro in her opener

- Urszula Radwanska – She plays Irina Camelia Begu in her opener, with a potential second round encounter against Sloane Stephens

Americans in the quarter:

- Serena Williams – She has lost only 4 matches this year. However, important to note is that two of those losses were at majors and the other two losses were at the hands of the player she can only face in the final, - Victoria Azarenka. Serena’s conqueror at Australian Open, Sloane Stephens is in for a potential 4^th round encounter with the defending champion.

- Jamie Hampton – She pushed Azarenka to three sets in the Australian Open. If she is not feeling the back pain and swinging freely, she can upset anyone on a given day. She has potential 3^rd round encounter with Sloane Stepehens.

- Sloane Stephens – She has a good draw and should be favoured to make the 3^rd round at the very least. She has been performing well at majors this year and should be motivated enough to making a noise at her home grand slam.

- Venus Williams – The two time former U.S Open champion (2000-01) plays Kristen Flipkens in her opener and is well motivated to go deep in the draw. The biggest question will be if her body holds up and cooperates with her or not.

- Lauren Davis – She plays Spanish crafty player Navaro in the first round

- Vania King – The diminutive American is former doubles U.S Open winner and plays Kanepi in the first round.

Serena d. Kanepi  (I would have picked Kerber, but she is in a slump, Kanpei is a very brave pick, but its just a draw analysis, so....)

Second Quarter

For full second quarter of the draw, please click here.

Agnieszka Radwanska is the top seed in this quarter and opens against Silvia Soler-Espinosa. The first seeded player she could play is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in what could be a tough potential third round for her. Radwanska is the only player to make the quarter-final or better at all the grand slams of the year so far. However, she has never progressed beyond the 4^th round of U.S Open. Will this be the year?

Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Liscki is also in this part of the draw and has a potential 4^th round encounter against former Wimbledon runner-up, Radwanska. Radwanska will be keen on taking revenge of her loss at the hands of Liscki in the semi-finals of Wimbledon this year, should the two meet in the 4^th round.

Li Na, this year’s Australian Open runner-up is sitting at the bottom of the quarter and opens against Olga Govortsova. An interesting potential 3^rd round clash awaits Li in the form of Laura Robson. Robson made noise last year when she sent Kim Clijsters into retirement in the second round of U.S Open and then defeated Li Na in the 3^rd round to make the second week of a slam for the first time.

Youngsters under the radar:

- Ashleigh Barty – She plays Estrella Cabeza Candela in the first round which is winnable for the youngster. A second round potential meeting with Pavlyuchenkova awaits.

- Monia Puig – She made the 4^th round at Roland Garros and the 4th round at Wimbledon this year. She makes her U.S Open debut against the comeback player, Alisa Kleybanova,

- Laura Robson – The British player has been making some noise at the grand slams lately. It will be interesting to see what she has in store for this year’s U.S Open.

Americans in this quarter:

- Bethanie Mattek-Sands : She opens against Mathilde Johansson and has a potential second round encounter against Ekaterina Makarova. She should make the 3^rd round.

- Madison Keys – She has a powerful game and she has the potential to beat anyone on a given day. She plays former no. 1 and former U.S Open finalist Jelena Jankovic in the first round.

- Shelby Rogers – She opens against talented French youngster Caroline Garcia.

Also here

- Kimiko Date-Krumm – She is the oldest player in the draw and opens against Paula Ormaechea in what should be a winnable match for the veteran Kimiko.

- Sorana Cristea – Remember Cistea? She made the final of Toronto beating 3 top 10 players and a former world no. 1 starting with Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Jankovic,  Petra Kvitova and Li Na. She has a potential 3^rd round encounter with Jankovic and a potential 4^th round clash against Li Na.

- Jelena Jankovic – The former world no.1 made the semi-finals of Cincinati falling at the hands of eventual champion Victoria Azarenka in three hard fought sets.

Li Na d. Agnieszka Radwanska (The pick is too predictable and given the unpredictable Li, you never know, but I can't help it, I have to give nod to Li)

Third Quarter

For full third quarter, please click here.

This is by far the most open quarter of the draw with Sara Errani sitting at the bottom of the draw as the no. 4 seed and Caroline Wozniacki sitting at the top as the no.6 seed. Wozniacki is finally rounding into form in New Heaven. She is playing semi-finals today. Caroline Wozniacki is one of the two players in the top 8 seeds who is yet to make a grand slam quarter-final this year, the other player being Angelique Kerber. Wozniacki opens against a qualifier.

Sara Errani made the semi-finals last year before bowing out to eventual champion Serena Williams. She opens against Ayumi Mortia in what could be a tricky opener for her. A potential second round meeting with country woman Flavia Pennetta aso sounds scary for the Italian. As if this was not enough, a potential third round encounter against former U.S Open champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova could also be in store.

Yes, Kuznetsova, anyone remember Kuznetsova? There is a big question mark over Kuznetsova. She has gone 2-3 since her quarter-final run in Roland Garros. However, the good news for Kuznetsova fans is that she has performed well at majors this year making the quarter-finals of both majors she has played and losing to the eventual champion at each (Azarenka at Australian Open and Serena at Roland Garros). If Kuznetsova steps it up this could be the ideal draw for her to make the semi-finals, but if she does not, she might be going home in the first round.

Youngsters under radar:

Annika Beck – She opens against Russian Elena Vesnina.

Dona Vekic – She opens against Mariana Duque Marino, in what should be a winnable match for the teenager.

Heather Watson – She has a tough first round assignment in the form of red hot Simona Halep.

Americans in this quarter:

There are 6 Americans in the first quarter, 3 Americans in the second quarter and only two in the third quarter.

-Malloy Burdette. She opens against Svetlana Kuznetsova in what could be a good or a bad thing for her depending on which Kuznetsova shows up.

- Nicole Gibbs – The teenager opens against former top 10 player Flavia Pennetta.

Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Caroline Wozniacki (Again wishful thinking and brave picks. You have to get used to it. You can replace them with Saran Errani and Roberta Vinci, if you like)

Fourth Quarter

For full fourth quarter, please click here.

Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova round off the fourth quarter of the draw. Kvitova opens against Misaki Doi and has tricky potential second and third round encounters with Andrea Petkovic and Mona Barthel respectively.

Azarenka opens against Dinah Pfizenmaier and has a potential third round encounter against Alize Cornet, the woman who pushed her to three sets in Roland Garros. Azarenka comes on the heels of her win over Serena Williams in the final of Cincinnati. Williams has lost only 4 matches this year, with two of them coming at the hands of Azarenka. Azarenka has won one slam this season and must be motivated to make a statement and win another.

Youngsters under the radar:

- Ana Tatishvili: She made the 4th round here last year, but has been unable to win matches this year. She opens against Ana Ivanovic.

- Elina Svitolina - She opens against Dominika Cibulkova and will attempt to win her first match at U.S Open in her second attempt.

Americans in this quarter:

- Alison Riske - She opens against grass lover Tsetana Pironkova.

- Sachia Vickery – She opens against a qualifier

- Maria Sanchez – She opens against former world no.4 Daniela Hantuchova.

- Varvara Lepchenko – She opens against Alexendra Dulgheru, and has a potential second round meeting with Ana Ivanovic.

- Christina McHale – She has a winnable first round match against slumping Julia Goerges and a tricky second round against the hard hitting diminutive Dominka Cibulkova.

Also here:

- 2011 champion, Samantha Stosur, opens against a qualifier. She has a potential 4^th round meeting with Petra Kvitova. An interesting fact to note is that Stosur has not lost before the quarter-finals of U.S Open for the last 3 years.

- Ana Ivanovic – The former world no.1 and former Roland Garros champion has a potential 4^th round encounter with Azarenka. She made the quarter-finals here last year in what was her first grand slam quarter-final since her grand slam triumph at Roland Garros in 2008.

Stosur d. Azarenka (I know Stosur has not had success against Kvitova, whom she is seeded to meet in the 4th round, and Azarenka but U.S Open brings out the best in her as we have been seeing in her last 3 appearances here. That said, this again is a very bold and brave pick. What fun would it be guessing Azarenka to make it all the way to the final)

Semi-Finals :

Li d. Serena

Stosur d. Kuznetsova/Errani

Championship

Stosur d. Li (You can replace Serena with Li and Azarenka with Stosur, and reverse the result)

What are your thoughts after the draw?

U.S Open 2013 Draw - WTA

With the withdrawal of Maria Sharapova, Sara Errani got the 4th seed, the highest she has ever been seeded at a grand slam.

Serena Williams, the top seed and the defending champion has a tough opener in Franchesca Schiavone. However, once through the opener, she should have smooth sailing till the fourth round where she may get a chance to avenge her Australian Open Quater-final loss at the hands of Sloane Stephens. Sister Venus Williams is also in this quarter and may face Serena Williams in the quarter-finals if both make it that far.

Radwanska heads the second quarter, with Li Na being the second seed in the quarter. Li is set for a potential re-match of last year's 3rd round encounter with Laura Robson, where Robson stunned Li in 3 sets.

The 3rd quarter of the draw is the most open of all and many will be willing to take advantage of the draw. Caroline Wozniacki, former world no. 1 and U.S Open finalist finds herself as the second highest seed of the quarter.

Victoria Azarenka, the second seed has Petra Kvitova as the highest seed in her quarter. Ana Ivanovic and 2011 U.S Open winner Samantha Stosur are also lurking in this quarter of the draw.

Potential Quarter-finals are as follows:

Serena - Kerber

Radwanska - Li

Errani - Wozniacki

Azarenka - Kvitova

Two time grand slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova is seeded 27th and has a potential 3rd round encounter with Sara Errani. Kuznetsova has not been playing well lately but she has been stepping it up in grand slams this year, falling to eventual champion Azarenka in the quarter-finals of Australian Open, and eventual champion Serena Williams in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros.

I will be doing an analysis of the draw. Stay tuned :)

Australian Open Draw Analysis - WTA

First of all, apologies for bringing the draw analysis to you people so late. I slept after the draw and had to go to office and you all know the routine ;)

10 a.m Australian time and 4 a.m Pakistani time, was the time the draw was supposed to be made. However, the 65 year old boat carrying the defending champions, Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka and their trophies, took ages to reach, and the draw started more than half an hour late. You can judge with this, how professional the Australian Open organisation is. There was a good tweet when we were all waiting for the good old boat to arrive, saying that the boat should be penalised with time penalty. It was my first time watching the Australian Open draw being made live, and it was not a good experience, given the delay in proceedings they made. I can continue to rant on and on, but I think, this will be enough for the time being, let us move on to the draw.

All the eyes were on where Serena Williams, the 5 time Australian Open champion, will land in the draw. The wrath of the draw gods fell on Azarenka as she drew Serena for a possible semi-final match-up. Sharapova must have breathed a sigh of relief at that moment.

There will be 3 way battle for the top spot at the Australian Open. Last year there were 4 contenders for the top spot, Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, and we all know how it ended. This year however, there are 3 players in a race for the top spot, 2 of the players are the same as the last year, the new name is familiar to all you, yes Serena Williams. Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, all be vying for the top spot.

Let us have a look at how the draw unfolded.

FIRST QUARTER

Heads of Quarter

Victoria Azarenka and Sara Errani

Also here

- Last years’ Australian Open top seed, Caroline Wozniacki who faces a very tough first round against the   German Sabine Liscki

- Brisbane International runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

- The younger Radwanska; and

- The American, Varvara Lepchenko

Returning Player

Svetlana Kuznetsova

ANALYSIS

Victoria Azarenka opens against Monica Niculescu. Azarenka is 4-0 life-time against Niculescu and has lost only one set in the 4 encounters. Niculescu made the semi-finals at the Shenzhen tournament where she lost to Zakopalova, and quarter-finals at Hobart, losing to Kristen Flipkens. Azarenka withdrew from her semi-final match against Serena Williams at Brisbane International due to toe infection caused by bad pedicure. Azarenka said that she had been training for the last few days and feels well, but how well she is will be determined in her first round match against Niculescu. In the 2^nd round Azarenka faces the winner of Daniilidou and Pliskova, while her possible 3^rd round opponent can be the younger Radwanska or the rising American youngster Jamie Hampton, who impressed in her tight straight sets loss to Radwanska in Auckland.

Roberta Vinci is seeded to meet Azarenka in the 4^th round. Vinci opens against Soler-Espiona against whom she is 4-0, can face Elena Vesnina in the 2^nd round who is at the moment in the final of Hobart. Vinci will be hoping for Vesnina to lose in the 1^st round since she is 1-3 life-time against the Russian. Vinci is seeded to meet American Varavra Lepchenko who enters the Australian Open on a 4 match losing streak.

Sara Errani is on the bottom of the quarter and opens her 2013 Australian Open campaign against Caral Saurez Navaro, against whom she is 3-1 life-time. Errani’s possible 2^nd round opponent is Christina Mchale. Errani is 3-0 against Mchale with the pair’s last 2 match going the distance. Mchale enters the Australian Open on a 7 match losing streak. A possible block-buster 3^rd round match can be the show-down of Errani against Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova is coming off an injury lay off and had a good run to the quarter-finals of Sydney before going down to Kerber. A good thing for Kuznetsova is that she is 5-1 against Errani.

A blockbuster first round match puts to test two contrasting styles in Caroline Wozniacki against Sabine Liscki. The match promises to be a great one. Wozniacki could not have asked for a more tough 1^st round match. Liscki is 2-1 against Caroline Wozniacki, although the 2 have not met since their 4^th round match at Wimbledon in 2009, won by Liscki. The winner of the match is likely to face Anastasia Pavlyunchova in the 3^rd round, with the winner facing probably Errani or Kuznetsova.

First round matches to watch:

Liscki vs Wozniacki; Hampton vs U. Radwanska

Black Horses : Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; Svetlana Kuznetsova

Players to keep an eye on : Jamie Hampton, Su-Wei Hsieh and Lauren Davis

Likely Early upsets : Caroline Wozniacki, Urszula Radwanska

Quarter-finals : Azarenka d. Liscki (I have to give the girl a chance, she lost a tough 3 setter to Sharapova here last year)

SECOND QUARTER

Heads of Quarter

Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova

Also here

- Golden set winner Yaroslava Shvedova

- Auckland runner-up Yanina Wickmayer

- The newly engaged Maria Kirilenko; and

- 2010 French Open champion and former top 10 player Franchesca Schiavone

- Hobart Semi-finalist and talented American Sloane Stephens

Oldest Player

The 42 year old veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm, who enjoys playing tennis

ANALYSIS

The 5 time Australian Open champion Serena Williams starts against Edina Gallovits-Hall, and is seeded to play Yaroslava Shvedova. Serena is 2-0 against the Kazakh, however the last time they played Serena had to dig deep to sent Shvedova home. The pair played at the fourth round of Wimbledon and Serena won 7-5 in the third.

Yanina Wickmayer, the Auckland runner-up, opens against Australian Jarmila Gajdosova, against whom she is 3-1 life-time. Maria Kirilenko opens her campaign against the American Vania King and  the winner is likely to play the winner of Rebecca Marino and Shuai Peng.Kirilenko is 1-0 against King and 2-1 against Peng. She is seeded to meet Wickmayer in the 3^rd round. The two have never played before, however, I will take Kirilenko to make it to the 4^th round. Kirilenko has made it to the quarter-finals of Australian Open before and she definitely knows what it takes to to do well, Wickmayer on the other hand has made it out of the 2^nd round only once during her 4 visists at Australian Open. So, I will go with Maria Kirilenko to make it to the 4^th round.

Petra Kvitova sits at the bottom of the quarter, and faces a tough opener in the former of 2010 French Open champion Franchesca Schiavone. Schiavone and Kvitova both have been having hard time recently with Schiavone winning just 2 of her last 10 matches (including Hopman cup), and Kvitova winning one more match than Schiavone, 3 of her last 10 matches. The winner is likely to face the British youngster Laura Robson in the second round. Kvitova is seeded to play Stephens in the 3^rd round. Stephens is coming off a quarter-final showing at Brisbane and a semi-final appearance at Hobart. I think Kvitova will right her ships just in time to make a run here at the Australian Open. Kvitova has made it to the quarter-finals or better of Australian Open the last two years.

Nadia Petrova plays the oldest player in the draw Date-Krumm and is seeded to play Lucie Safarova in the 3^rd round. Petrova has twice been a quarter-finalist here at Australian Open, while Safarova has also been a quarter-finalist at Australian Open. Petrova and Safarova both have yet  to win a set in 2013. Petrova ended her 2012 campaign on a high note and should make the 4^th round at least. A lesser result will be a big disappointment.

It is tough to pick a quarter-finalist from the bottom of the quarter, the draw could open up for Petrova. However, I would love to see a 4^th round show-down between power player Kvitova and Petrova.

If Petrova can make it to the quarter-finals, she will give Serena a head ache. Although the head to head is in the favour of Serena 7-3, their last 5 encounters have all gone to the 3^rd set.

First round matches to watch:

Petra Kvitova vs Franchesca Schiavone; Yanina Wickmayer vs Jarmila Gajdosova; Sloane Stephens vs Simona Halep

Black Horses : Sloane Stephens, Nadia Petrova

Players to keep an eye on : Shuai Peng, Shahar Peer

Likely Early upsets : Petra Kvitova, Lucie Safarova (You can never count on these two)

Quarter-finals : Nadia Petrova d. Serena Williams (I know it is not likely to happen, but on any given day Petrova is capable of any upset.)

THIRD QUARTER

Heads of Quarter

Agnieszka Radwanska and Li Na

Also here

- German power-house, Julia Goerges;

- Chinese star Jie Zheng, who made the semi-finals here in 2010

- The Aussie hope Samantha Stosur;

- Pair of former world no.1 Serbians Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic; and

- Mona Barthel, who will be playing to defend her Hobart title tomorrow.

Players with former glory at Australian Open

Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Jie Zheng and Li Na.

ANALYSIS

At the top of the quarter sits Chinese trail blazer Li Na, 2011 French Open champion and 2011 Australian Open runner-up. She opens against Sesil Karatantcheva, and is seeded to meet Romanian Sorana Cristea. Li leads Cristea 3-1 in the pair’s head to head. Cristea has never been past the 3^rd round of Australian Open, and with the current form of Li Na, seems like it will be tough for Cristea to move beyond the 3^rd round.

Julia Goerges made the second week of a grand slam for the first time here last year, so she must be eager to do well here. She opens against a qualifier and will face the winner of Oprandi and Pironkova. Goerges has never played Pironkova, but she will be poised to do well here and should make it to the 3^rd round, where she is seeded to meet Australian Flag and hopes bearer Smantha Stosur. Stosur opens against Kai-Chen Chang and can play Zheng Jie in the 2^nd round. I have a feeling that this will be Stosur’s time and she will make it to the 3^rd round here at least, however, she will have trouble against Julia Goerges, if the two meet. Goerges has won 3 of the pair’s 4 meetings. Stosur enters Australian Open on a 5 match losing streak. I will take Goerges to make it to the 4^th round.

Sitting at the bottom of the quarter, Agnieszka Radwanska is the only WTA player with 2 titles in 2013. Radwanska is on a 9 match winning streak, her last loss coming at the hands of Serena Williams last year in the semi-final of year end championships. Radwanska is seeded to meet Mona Barthel in the 3^rd round. The two have played only once before, in the second round of Montreal last year, where Radwanska rallied from a set down to win 7-6(5) in the final set. Given Radwanska’s form and her demolition of Cibulkova in the finals of Sydney, Radwanksa should easily sail to the fourth round.

Ana Ivanovic opens against Melinda Czink and is seeded to meet Jelena Jankovic in a block buster 3^rd round show-down. Ivanovic is 7-3 life-time against Jankovic. Ivanovic had some good matches at Hopman cup, although she lost her singles rubber in the final, which started the demise of Serbia. You have to like Ivanovic’s chances of making it to the 4^th round here.

Black Horses : Mona Barthel, Jie Zheng

Players to keep an eye on : Heather Watson, Daniela Hantuchova

Likely Early upsets : Samantha Stosur (Although I had said that I have a feeling she will do well here), Jelena Jankovic

Quarter-finals : Li Na d. Agnieszka Radwanska (I have a feeling that this time around, if the two meet, Li will turn the tables of Radwanska and make it to the semi-finals)

FOURTH QUARTER

Heads of Quarter

Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber

Also here

- American teenager Madison Keys who almost knocked Li Na off in the quarter-finals of Sydney;

- Last year’s Serena Williams conqueror, Ekaterina Makarova

- Hopman cup winner Anabel Medina Garrigues;

- Giant killer Sydney runner-up Dominika Cibulkova; and

- 7 time Grand slam champion, Venus Williams.

Veterans

Venus Williams, Klara Zakopalova, Marion Bartoli

ANALYSIS

Angelique Kerber begins her Australian Open campaign against Elina Svitolina. Kerber made the semi-finals of the Syndey where she fought from down a break in the second set to win the set and force a 3^rd set, but Cibulkova proved too strong for her. Kerber is seeded to meet Tamira Paszek in the 3^rd round. Kerber has a decent draw and should progress into the second week.

Ekaterina Makarova starts her 2013 Australian Open campaign against a qualifier and is seeded to meet Marion Bartoli for a spot in the 4^th round. Makarova started her 2013 campaign at Sydney where she defeated Lepchenko, but fell at the hands of Cibulkova in the 2^nd round 6-7 in the 3^rd set. Marion Bartoli will have a tough test in Medina Garrigues, who is coming off a huge Hopman cup win. Bartoli is 8-3 life-time against Garrigues, and is a former Australian Open quarter-finalist. Bartoli also leads Makarova in head to head 2-0. You have to like Bartoli’s chances of making it to the 4^th round, however, you can never rely on Bartoli.

2008 Australian Open champion and last year’s runner-up Maria Sharapova, kick starts her 2013 Australian Open campaign against Olga Puchkova and is seeded to meet Venus Williams in a bloc-buster 3^rd round encounter. Venus Williams leads Maria Sharapova by a slight margin in the pairs head to head by 5-4, however it was Sharapova who won their last encounter in Rome last year.

Sydney runner-up Dominika Cibulkova starts her campaign against Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty and is seeded to meet Shenzhen runner-up Klara Zakopalova in the 3rd round. Cibulkova had a great run in Sydney, but you have to wonder how much will the double bagel affect her. If she lets that loss get  to her, she might be sent home early on. If Cibulkova goes home early this section might open up to anyone to make it to the 4^th round.

Black Horses : Venus Williams, Ekaterina Makarova (I would have loved to pick Dominika Cibulkova but just as I said earlier, I don’t know where she stands after that double bagel at the hands of Radwanska)

Players to keep an eye on : Madison Keys, Kristen Flipkens

Likely Early upsets : Tamira Paszek, Klara Zakopalova

Quarter-finals : Maria Sharapova d. Angelique Kerber

SEMI-FINALS

Nadia Petrova d. Victoria Azarenka

Li Na d. Maria Sharapova

FINAL : Nadia Petrova d. Li Na

P.S : You can replace Nadia Petrova with Serena Williams ;)

Here is to a happy Australian Open 2013, and Sorry again for keeping you waiting.

P.P.S : I hope there are no typos in it ;)

Angelique Kerber and Australian Open 2013

Angelique Kerber had the best season of her career in 2012 where she made it to the semi-finals of Wimbledon and booked a spot in the Year end championships and ended the year in the top 5 for her first top 10 finish.

Kerber had a sluggish start to the year. She started her season in Brisbane where she won first 2 matches to make it to the quarter-finals but then bowed out to eventual runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Kerber looked very rusty in her first 3 matches. At the moment she is playing in Sydney and will be playing her quarter-final match tomorrow against former U.S Open and French Open champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova is coming off a 6 months injury lay off, and has looked strong in her first 2 main draw matches in Sydney where she took out Goerges in the opening round and Wozniacki in the second round. It will be a tough test for Kerber tomorrow.

Angelique Kerber will be seeded 5^th for the Australian Open 2013.

Let us what the chances of Kerber doing well at the Australian Open are.

Angelique Kerber and Australian Open – Based on the history of 5^th seeds at Australian Open

Kerber and her fans will be happy to know that a 5^th seed has won the Australian Open before, although only once in the past 25 years. It happened in the recent past when 5^th seeded Maria Sharapova went all the way to lift the trophy and she did that in style, beating the then top seed Justine Henin in the quarter-finals, 3^rd seed Jelena Jankovic in the semi-finals and 4^th seed Ana Ivanovic in the final, all in straight sets.

Kerber  has a 50% chance of making it to the quarter-finals or better of Australian Open, based on 5^th seeds’ history at the Australian Open. She has a 13% chance of making it out of the quarter-finals.

Interesting thing to note is that a 5^th seed has lost in the 1^st round of the Australian Open only once before in the past 25 years. It happened way back in 1995, when 5^th seeded Gabriela Sabatini lost in the first round in straight sets at the hands of Marianne Werdel-Witmeyer. Werdel-Witmeyer went on to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open where she lost in straight sets to the top seed Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.

A thing of concern for Kerber might be the fact that during the past 7 years a 5^th seed has managed to make it out of the 4^th round only once, in 2008 (Maria Sharapova won the title).

Will Kerber be able to turn around the recent trend or will she follow the trend set by her fellow 5^th seeded players at the Australian Open?

Angelique Kerber and Australian Open – Based on Kerber’s past performances at Australian Open

Kerber is a poor 5-5 at Australian Open. Her best showing on Melbourne tennis courts came in 2010 and 2012, when she made it to the 3^rd round, only to lose to then 3^rd seeded Kuznetsova in 2010 and then 4^th seeded Maria Sharapova in 2012.

An interesting thing to note is that Kerber has never lost to an un-seeded player at the Australian Open, and all her 5 losses have come at the hands of players ranked above her.

2008 – [25] Francesca Schiavone

2009 – [6] Venus Williams

2010 - [3] Svetlana Kuznetsova

2011 - [29] Dominika Cibulkova

2012 - [4] Maria Sharapova

*Seeds are represented in the brackets.

This should be interesting now that she is seeded 5^th, and if she follows the pattern of not losing to a player ranked below her at the Australian Open, she will definitely make it to the quarter-finals, where she may face one of the top 4 seeds if the seedings hold.

Kerber has the game, the fire power and the will to go deep in the Grand Slams. Has her time come, and will she make her way to the trophy remains to be seen.

How far do you see Kerber going into the Australian Open?

For a preview of other players, please refer to:

Tomas Berdych and Australian Open 2013

Li Na and Australian Open 2013

Juan Martin Delpotro and Australian Open 2013

Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Australian Open 2013

Sara Errani and Australian Open 2013
Janko Tipsarevic and Australian Open 2013
Petra Kvitova and Australian Open 2013