Dubai down, Doha up next.  Six of the world’s top ten will be in Doha for the 2015 Qatar Total Open with the main draw beginning on Monday.  Doha is a 32-player draw with byes for the top four seeds so it comes as no surprise that with such a solid line-up, there are some awesome first round matches.  This is a really tough one to make any predictions for but here goes.  Let’s take a look at the draw…

Petra Kvitova is the number one seed in Doha and will play Jelena Jankovic or a qualifier in the second round.  Kvitova didn’t play well in Dubai; she squeaked past Elina Svitolina in her first match, but fell victim to Carla Suarez Navarro for the second consecutive year.  Kvitova is projected to meet Ekaterina Makarova in the quarter-finals.  Makarova opens in one of the stand-out first rounders against Garbine Muguruza.  The pair are split at 2-2 in their head-to-head; Muguruza won their last match handily in Sofia at the end of last year, 6-2 6-1.  However their three matches before that all went the distance including a brutal first round match in Beijing towards the end of 2014 which Makarova won, 6-7(8) 6-4 6-4.  I’m really intrigued by this match after both played well in Dubai although Muguruza’s run in both the singles and doubles could be an issue.  Another player who is bound to be pooped is Karolina Pliskova.  The Dubai finalist, who has been awesome in 2015 with 15 main draw victories, is set to meet a qualifier in the first round before potentially meeting Makarova or Muguruza in the second round.  I really hope Karolina pulls out and has a break!

Caroline Wozniacki is the highest seed in the second quarter and will face a tough first match against Sam Stosur or Lucie Safarova.  Sam and Lucie will meet for the second time this year after the Aussie prevailed in a tight first round match in Sydney, 7-6(3) 5-7 6-3.  Lucie leads the head-to-head overall, 9-3 and should bring more confidence into this match after three wins in Dubai.  Andrea Petkovic is the number six seed and is projected to meet Wozniacki in the quarters.  If the Antwerp champion gets past a qualifier in the first round, she may get another shot at Zarina Diyas in the second round, who defeated her in Dubai last week.  Although Wozniacki was struggling with a cold in Dubai, I think she could do well here.  The bye should give her enough time to recover as she won’t start the tournament until Tuesday at the earliest.

Venus Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska headline the third quarter of the draw.  Venus will take on Casey Dellacqua in the first round.  The last time the pair met was in Miami last year where Venus prevailed in a lengthy three setter, 6-4 5-7 6-4.  The winner of that match will play either Barbora Zahlavova Strycova or Sabine Lisicki.  Radwanska’s first match of the week will be against Svetlana Kuznetsova or Flavia Pennetta.  This is another head scratcher of a first round where it is difficult to separate the pair.  Kuznetsova leads the head-to-head 5-1, but Pennetta won their last match in 2013 at the US Open.  Pennetta had a horrible start to the year, but did well in Dubai.  She saved match points in her first match of the week against Julia Goerges and defeated Angelique Kerber en route to the quarter-finals.  Kuznetsova has only won one WTA main draw match this year and that was via a retirement.  There have been more positive signs this month though after going winless down under.

The final quarter of the draw features the pick of the first round matches between Angelique Kerber and Victoria Azarenka.  It’s a case of poor Angie and poor Vika with this draw. As a spectacle, it should be fun.  Kerber and Azarenka’s last two matches were both stunners; Azarenka won at the Olympics, 6-4 7-5 in one of the most entertaining and high quality straight set matches i’ve ever watched.  They trumped that in Istanbul with a three set thriller which Azarenka pulled out the bag saving match points along the way with a 6-7(13) 7-6(2) 6-4 victory.  Azarenka has been practising in Doha all week and should be acclimatised to the conditions as she prepares with Wim Fissette.  Kerber’s form has been disappointing of late and I have to admit, i’d be surprised to see her secure a first ever win over Vika.  The draw is bookended by the Dubai champion, Simona Halep.  The Romanian player hasn’t always done a great job at backing up tournaments and it was evident during the final that she had some kind of strapping on her stomach.  Halep, the defending champion, will play Alize Cornet or a qualifier in the second round.

1st Round Predictions: Makarova d. Muguruza in 3 sets, Safarova d. Stosur in 3 sets, V.Williams d. Dellacqua in 2 sets, Zahlavova Strycova d. Lisicki in 2 tight sets, Kuznetsova d. Pennetta in 3 sets, Azarenka d. Kerber in 2 sets and Suarez Navarro d. Svitolina in 3 sets

Quarter-Final Predictions: Kvitova v Makarova, Wozniacki v Petkovic, V.Williams v Kuznetsova and Azarenka v Cornet

Final Prediction: Wozniacki d. V.Williams

As always, comments are appreciated.  I’ve struggled trying to pick out a winner from this draw and I think there could be quite a few upsets, not that my predictions completely reflect that!