Simona Halep, Eugenie Bouchard and Ekaterina Makarova all won their matches in straight sets to book their places in the second week of the Australian Open.  In the only seeded upset so far today, Yanina Wickmayer defeated Sara Errani in three sets.  It’s great to see Yanina playing well again, who has won all her matches this week in three sets.  We’re approaching the weekend, which means I  finally get to watch entire tennis matches! The line-up of women’s matches for Saturday is fantastic, therefore a double header of WTA previews is coming on Moo’s Tennis Blog.  As always, comments and all that jazz are appreciated.

Poll Results: 34% of readers correctly predicted that Azarenka would beat Wozniacki, 78% correclty predicted that S.Williams would beat Zvonareva, 79% correctly predicted that Kvitova would beat Barthel, 59% correctly predicted that Vandeweghe would beat Stosur, 57% correctly predicted that Keys would beat Dellacqua and 70% correctly predicted that Muguruza would beat Hantuchova.

Fantasy Tennis Update: tenniz-fan is flying ahead in the Moo’s Tennis Blog league for Racquet Rally, while Grand Slammers still leads the way in the TFF DreamTeam game.

1. Petra Kvitova v Madison Keys (AO, R3)

Photo by Omar Boraby

In a battle of the huge hitters, Petra Kvitova and Madison Keys will meet in the third round of the 2015 Australian Open.  Kvitova reached the third round of the Australian Open for the first time since 2012 with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Mona Barthel.  The German player mounted some resistance in the second set and came close to breaking serve in the middle of the second set.  The pair fought out a 14 minute + game where Petra saved a series of break points.  Barthel threw in a poor service game at 4-4 and the rest was history as Petra sealed the straight sets win.  Keys, watched by new coach Lindsay Davenport, came from a set down to defeat the number 29 seed, Casey Dellacqua, 2-6 6-1 6-1.  It was a game of two halves from Madison who started slowly, but finished emphatically.

Kvitova and Keys have played just once before on the tour with Kvitova winning 6-2 6-2 in Tokyo.  The pair have similar games, built around a big serve and crunching groundstrokes.  I’ve said before that Madison gives me Petra vibes so it will be interesting to see them on the court together and a good test for Madison.  Keys has demonstrated flashes of brilliances, but these flashes have not been sustained.  Kvitova is looking fitter than ever and mentally the part.  Right now, Kvitova does everything that little bit better than Keys…

Prediction: Kvitova d. Keys in 2 tight sets

2. Venus Williams v Camila Giorgi (AO, R3)

For the first time on the WTA tour, Venus Williams will take on Camila Giorgi…  I’m EXCITED by this match-up.  Venus has enjoyed straight set wins over Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor and Lauren Davis in Melbourne.  She has yet to lose a match in 2015 after winning the title in Auckland and will be bidding for her eight consecutive victory on Saturday.  Giorgi came in unseeded, but took out the number 12 seed Flavia Pennetta in the first round, overcoming some late jitters to close out the match, 4-6 6-2 6-3.  Her second rounder was much more straightforward as she beat Tereza Smitkova in a clinic of ultra-aggressive tennis, 6-1 6-4.  Venus has been in superb form to start the year, but she hasn’t yet played someone in the same league as Giorgi in terms of someone who absolutely destroys every ball.   I think there will be an upset on Saturday, but you’ll see from my predictions I couldn’t decide which one! This is the match I was closest to calling an upset based on Giorgi’s giant-killing performances in the last couple of years.  However i’m going with Venus to prevail as variety, which Venus has in abundance, has unsettled the Italian player before…

Prediction: V.Williams d. Giorgi in 3 sets