It’s been three weeks since the conclusion of Wimbledon and finally, we have some relevant tennis to get excited about.  To be honest, as tennis fans we are continually spoilt and that’s the case for the next two months with non-stop tennis up to the US Open.  The time after Wimby is always odd with so many tournaments taking place on different surfaces.  Now it’s hard courts all the way as the US Open Series for the women kicks off.  

The showcase tournament for next week will be in Stanford.  This year the tournament has attracted a STELLAR line-up.  Since i’ve been following tennis, it is the best line-up I have ever seen in Stanford and has created one of the better draws of the year.  After several weeks off, it makes trying to predict what might happen a little tricky… as ever, i’m here to make a fool of myself.  Your thoughts about the draw are encouraged in the comments section 🙂

Serena Williams headlines what is a tremendously lopsided and top-heavy draw.  Her first match of the week will be against either Kimiko Date-Krumm or Karolina Pliskova.  It is going to be fascinating to see how Serena plays this week after early exits at the French Open (l. to Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 6-2, R2) and Wimbledon (l. to Alize Cornet, 1-6 6-3 6-4, R3).  Both losses were shocking but at Wimbledon, Serena was in complete control against Cornet.  In the final two sets, she looked tight, she looked unsure of herself and most all, she looked severely lacking confidence.  For the world number one, that seems like a rather odd concept, but confidence is a funny thing.

Serena is projected to meet Ana Ivanovic in the quarter-finals.  Ivanovic has drawn Sabine Lisicki in the first round.  Sabine defeated Ana in the third round of Wimbledon, 6-4 3-6 6-1.  It was a fine performance from Sabine on her favourite surface.  Hard courts are by no means a disaster for her, but she has yet to prove, or at least in 2014, that she can bring her best tennis to a tournament other than Wimbledon.  I’d go for Ivanovic in this one, but would expect nothing of the blow-out in Stuttgart where Ivanovic won, 6-1 6-3 and probably the tightest match they have played to date.  Before this year the pair had never met, but this will be their third encounter in 2014.

The second quarter is the one that presents the most dilemmas in determining how it may unfold.  Victoria Azarenka has taken a wildcard into the event and could meet Venus Williams in the second round (Venus plays a qualifier in the first round).  I really believe this is going to be a fruitful second half to the season for Vika, but this could be a very tough opener.  Azarenka has never beaten Venus in three previous matches and has never even won a set.  Their last match took place in Tokyo, which Venus won against an oddly off-colour Azarenka, 6-2 6-4.  Depending on draws, I fancy Azarenka to win one of Montreal or Cincy, but in my opinion, this tournament will be a little too early for her.

The other seed in this section is the rapidly rising, Andrea Petkovic.  It is wonderful to see her playing high quality tennis and INJURY FREE.  Since Wimbledon, Petko won her second title of the year in Bad Gastein on the clay.  In the first round of Stanford, she plays Ajla Tomljanovic, who it was recently announced will be representing Australia (although she’s Croatian for now).   The winner of that match will meet Sam Stosur or a qualifier.

The bottom half is significantly weaker than the top half and is spearheaded by Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber.  Radwanska will play Caroline Garcia or Varvara Lepchenko in the second round, meanwhile Kerber will play Coco Vandeweghe or Kristie Ahn.  On paper, both players should make the semi-finals, but as fans of WTA tennis will know, it’s not always that simple.  Kerber could meet the defending champion, Dominika Cibulkova in the quarter-finals.  Cibulkova has one of the toughest first round draws up against Garbine Muguruza.  Both had some great results on the hard courts, notably Cibulkova who made the final of the Australian Open, semi-finals of Miami, quarter-finals of Indian Wells and won a title in Acapulco… not bad at all! Muguruza won their only previous match on grass and i’d probably take the Spaniard.  Cibulkova has had some tough draws in the last couple of months and too often faltered at the first hurdle.

So who’s going to win? *runs and hides behind the couch*

These draws are always difficult to pick out a winner.  I feel like I always say that.  I’ll make sure to note when I find a draw that I am decisive and find straightforward in picking out finalists!  I’m not going for Serena.  There were so many alarm bells in her last two losses and I really think her confidence has taken a knock.  I’m actually going for Kerber, which i’m already shaking my head at.  I thought her performance over Sharapova at Wimbledon was absolutely fabulous.  That match was highly underrated and  I felt deserved as many plaudits as the Venus v Kvitova match for the quality it produced.  It was a huge win mentally at the biggest event of the year and I believe she can carry her form on grass to the hard courts.  Crucial for Kerber is the ability to step it up and not sit back.  She can hit winners and i’d like to see her become more aggressive and take more risks.  She executed those tactics against Sharapova marvellously well.  To be honest, i’d probably say someone from the top half of this draw will win this tournament, but i’m struggling to pick out who that someone will be…

1st Round Predictions: Pliskova d. Date-Krumm in 3 sets, Ivanovic d. Lisicki in 3 sets, Petkovic d. Tomljanovic in 3 sets, Muguruza d. Cibulkova in 2 tight sets, Hantuchova d. Ormaechea in 3 sets, Vandeweghe d. Ahn in 2 sets, Suarez Navarro d. Puig in 2 sets and Garcia d. Lepchenko in 3 sets

Quarter-Final Predictions: S.Williams v Ivanovic, V.Williams v Petkovic, Muguruza v Kerber and Suarez Navarro v Radwanska

Moo’s Final Prediction: Kerber d. Ivanovic

After a couple of quiet weeks on Moo’s Tennis Blog, i’ll be blogging much more over the next couple of weeks!