Are you keeping up? Sadly, I don’t have time to write about Maria Sharapova’s 6-7 6-3 6-3 win over Ana Ivanovic in the Brisbane final, but it was a great match. In case you missed it, I have written a recap of the Auckland final between Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki HERE. The main draw for the Apia International in Sydney kicks off on Sunday with only a week to go until the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne. The main draw is STACKED with six of the world’s top ten in attendance and plenty of engaging match-ups right from the get go. The qualifiers won’t be confirmed and placed until Sunday and one of those *could* be last year’s champion, Tsvetana Pironkova. Predictions are crazy, but a week before a Grand Slam, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see some wacky results. Let’s take a look at the draw…
Simona Halep will arrive in Sydney as the number one seed fresh off her first title in 2015. Halep won the event in Shenzhen; she lost the opening set of her season, but didn’t drop another set on her way to the title, beating Timea Bacsinszky in the final, 6-2 6-2. Last year, Halep didn’t fare well playing in back-to-back tournaments. It will be very interesting to see whether the change in conditions and the possible fatigue from the first week affects her in Sydney. Halep will have a bye in the first round, which will give her extra preparation time. She will play either Karolina Pliskova or a qualifier in the second round. Pliskova had a great win in the first round of Brisbane, beating Victoria Azarenka in a brutal first round match. She was unable to back it up in the second round, but could be one to watch this week if Halep’s eyes are more focussed on the Australian Open. Ekaterina Makarova is the other seed in the first quarter and plays her first match of the week against the Brisbane semi-finalist, Elina Svitolina…. a very tough match to call.
The second quarter features a Hopman Cup rematch between Agnieszka Radwanska and Alize Cornet. Radwanska lost to Cornet in their singles match this week, 6-4 2-6 7-5. Cornet also won their last match on the WTA tour last year in Katowice, 0-6 6-2 6-4. Aga will come into the event with some confidence though after earning a first win over Serena Williams in the final of the Hopman Cup. She failed to serve out the match in the second set, but strolled through the decider to win 6-4 6-7(3) 6-1. This may only be an exhibition, but a win over Serena is a big deal. I don’t agree though with any links being made to the recent coaching partnership with Martina Navratilova… give it some time! Last year, Radwanska came into Sydney after playing some exhausting matches at the Hopman Cup and lost in the first round to Bethanie Mattek-Sands. I don’t think Sydney is going to be top of her list of priorities so I am anticipating another early exit.
In stark contrast to Radwanska, Garbine Muguruza and Sara Errani will both be desperate for match play as they play each other in the first round. Muguruza was forced to pull out of Brisbane with an ankle injury, meanwhile Errani lost her first match of 2015 to Daniela Hantuchova in Auckland. Angelica Fratini (a good follow on Twitter) reported that Errani was suffering with whooping cough in the off-season and her pre-season preparations had been disrupted (see HERE). This is another tough first round match for Errani against a big hitter and i’d back Muguruza, if healthy, to prevail. Angelique Kerber is the other seed in this section and takes on a qualifier in the first round. If she comes through that match, Kerber will play either Belinda Bencic or Daria Gavrilova in the second round. Kerber and Gavrilova played in Brisbane last week, meanwhile her last match with Bencic was a loss at last year’s US Open.
The third quarter of the draw features a trio of tough first round matches. The number four seed, Caroline Wozniacki opens against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the first round, who she played in the semi-finals of Auckland this week. There were reports that Woz may withdraw, but there is no confirmation as of yet. The winner of that match will play Lucie Safarova or Sam Stosur in the second round. Stosur suffered a painful loss in Brisbane, unable to capitalise on a 5-1 third set lead against Varvara Lepchenko as she went down in three sets. Safarova had a promising start at the Hopman Cup, beating two players ranked higher than her and pushing Serena to a third set tiebreak in a match she served for. Safarova has a 9-2 head-to-head lead over Stosur and has won their last seven matches. I think the conditions will also suit Lucie’s game so i’m optimistic that she could go deep this week, particularly if Wozniacki isn’t committed to the tournament.
The final quarter contains the number two seed, Petra Kvitova. The Czech world number four began the year in Shenzhen where she reached the semi-finals, eventually falling to Timea Bacsinszky. Petra started with three straight set wins and then I tweeted that all the lack of drama was unsettling… I apologise to all Petra fans for the jinx! Kvitova’s first match of the week will be against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Peng Shuai. The final quarter features two top 20 players who both started the year with losses. Cibulkova takes on a qualifier in the first round, meanwhile Petkovic plays the dangerous wildcard, Jarmila Gajdosova. I’d fancy both to pick up their first wins of the year…
Predicting anything this week is a headache. Petra and Angelique have both done well in Sydney before and the low bounce, similar to grass, seems to suit their games. Kvitova is helped out with the bye and I think she will want some more matches before Australia. Kerber is a dangerous pick after a worrying loss in Brisbane. However, I think the likes of Radwanska and Halep will be fatigued and / or focussed on the AO and Kerber’s draw could open up. I contemplated having Cornet, Muguruza, Bencic and Ka.Pliskova all in the final, but I lost my bottle on all counts…
1st Round Predictions: Lisicki d. Suarez Navarro in 2 sets, Svitolina d. Makarova in 3 sets, Cornet d. Radwanska in 3 sets, Muguruza d. Errani in 2 sets, Bencic d. Gavrilova in 2 tight sets, Keys d. Kuznetsova in 2 sets, Safarova d. Stosur in 2 sets and Petkovic d. Gajdosova in 3 sets
Quarter-Final Predictions: Ka.Pliskova v Svitolina, Cornet v Kerber, Keys v Safarova and Petkovic v Kvitova
Final Prediction: Kvitova d. Kerber
Moo's Tennis Blog 
I’m stanning for Pliskova to pull another upset. Halep looks like she’s in pretty top form though.
LikeLike
Pleased to see you go with Petra. She was my pick too. The top half of the draw is so much tougher for Halep to navigate than the bottom half is for Kvitova. Obviously she could throw in a shocker and bow out early on, but I expect her to make the final, playing god knows who! Kerber looked so good for patches against Svitolina, like a grand slam champion at times, but I fear her inability to sustain that level will see her continue to fall short.
LikeLike
Conditions suit Petra and I think she has a good draw and will want more matches before AO. Kerber had a slice of luck avoiding Pironkova. Already, her draw is opening up a little with Gavrilova potentially in R2, who she beat last week. The loss to Svitolina last week was disappointing.
LikeLike
Gajdosova will beat petkovic today
LikeLike
What about ATP Sydney?
LikeLike
Bit disappointed with Kuzenetsova’s start to the year. I think perhaps she should call it a day on trying to do it all in singles, just stick to clay and the bigger events, and focus on doubles where she could be #1 in the world fairly easily.
LikeLike
Her mental toughness has been suspect these last few years, but she still manages to produce some excellent performances every now and then.
LikeLike