Leading into the Australian Open, the two women displaying the best form are Ashleigh Barty, winner of the Yarra Valley Classic, and the player she defeated in the final, Garbiñe Muguruza.
Barty, the top seed, has drawn what appears to be the lighter side of the draw, with Ekaterina Alexandrova as a probable third round opponent.
Round of sixteen could be anyone from Petra Martic, unseeded but dangerous Shelby Rogers, or Anett Kontaveit, finalist at the lead up Grampians Trophy tournament.
Karolina Pliskova is seeded to meet Barty in a quarter final, but the Czech number one must find a way through a section populated with the likes of Danielle Collins (2019 AO semi finalist), Belinda Bencic, and Elise Mertens (winner of lead up Gippsland Trophy tournament).
Sofia Kenin is the seeded semi final contest for Barty, but the defending champion was thrashed by Muguruza in the lead up Yarra Valley Classic and she could well face Kaia Kanepi in the second round. Unseeded Kanepi was runner up in the Gippsland Trophy, and included in her victories was the scalp of Aryna Sabalenka, at that stage the hottest player on the planet.
Kenin may need to deal with Jennifer Brady or Johanna Konta before even thinking of a quarter final, and that poses the possible threat of Vika Azarenka, Maria Sakkari or Elina Svitolina.
If Kenin survives all of that, it’s probably Barty in the last four, as it was last year.
The bottom half of the draw holds potentially most of the drama, and a lot of that is because of Serena.
Add to that Venus, Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova, Garbiñe Muguruza, Bianca Andreescu, Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber and Iga Swiatek, and you have nine GS champions, three with AO trophies to their name, and four others that have made AO finals.
In short, Garbiñe Muguruza should meet and beat Naomi Osaka in one round of sixteen encounter.
That will mean Muguruza overcoming Kerber, and Osaka defeating Ons Jabeur in third round matches.
A Muguruza v Kvitova quarter final is likely should the Czech number two beat Andreescu.
The draws of Halep and Serena Williams look reasonable but the round of sixteen is tougher.
For Serena, I see the exit sign as Aryna Sabalenka flexes her muscles. Reigning Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek will test Halep, but the Romanian should pass and progress to a quarter final with Aryna.
My semi final predictions
Ashleigh Barty (1) to defeat Victoria Azarenka (12)
Garbiñe Muguruza (14) to defeat Simona Halep (2)
Final: Garbiñe Muguruza (14) to defeat Ashleigh Barty (1)
No comments:
Post a Comment