The grass court season is upon is… hip hip, hooray! I love this time of the year. I need a break, but heyyy it’s the grass so I will power through. 2015 is the first year where there are three weeks before the start of the third Grand Slam at Wimbledon.  I’m so thankful for the extra week because I think it will take a few days to get over this French Open. ‘s-Hertogenbosch has always been in the same week as Eastbourne but this year it’s the first week of the grass court season. The women’s draw is respectable with Eugenie Bouchard and Jelena Jankovic the top two seeds, but trying to pick out a winner is hilarious. The men’s draw is much weaker and has lost Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the number one seed after he withdrew with a reported abdominal tear (Via @jmeistennis). Predictions for the mens draw will go up soon. For the first time in a while, let’s take a look at the draw.

Eugenie Bouchard has taken late wildcards into both ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Birmingham, and will play all three weeks of the grass court season. Consdering her recent success on the grass courts of Wimbledon and struggles on tour throughout much of 2015, it would seem a smart move. Bouchard’s first round match in Holland will be against Yaroslava Shvedova. This is one of those matches where i’m split down the middle as I could see both outcomes. I’d give Bouchard the edge though with a 2-0 head-to-head lead (both wins on clay). Shvedova just played the women’s doubles final at Roland Garros on Sunday so will have little time to prepare although her game suits well to grass. Bouchard’s section features the number 5 seed, Camila Giorgi. Since reaching the final in Katowice, the Italian player’s form has been disappointing. Her results on grass were respectable though and she reached the quarter-finals of Eastbourne. If she can survive her first match, I think she can go deep in this draw.

Defending champion, Coco Vandeweghe looks to have a good chance at defending her title. She won the doubles title at the ITF event in Eastbourne this week with Shelby Rogers and has a great game for the grass. Her first match of the week will be against Andreea Mitu. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is the other seed in this section. I do like Pavs, but she has been so erratic this year. Her record on grass is also shaky with just one win on this surface in the last two years. I’m intrigued to see how Shuai Zhang, a potential second round opponent for Pavs, gets on in Rosmalen. The Chinese player, who is still yet to win a main draw match at a Grand Slam, had a good run in Birmingham last year and made the semi-finals.

Belinda Bencic is the highest seed in the third quarter. BB has had a tough run of form, posting a 3-6 W-L record since Miami. After a breakthrough year in 2015, Belinda has found things more difficult in 2015. Bencic, who won the juniors title at Wimbledon in 2013, had some good results on the grass last year and reached the third round of Wimbledon. She plays Jessica Pegula in the first round and could then play either Alison Van Uytvanck or Evgeniya Rodina in the second round. The other seed in this section is Kristina Mladenovic, who takes on doubles partner, Timea Babos in the first round. The pair last played in Marrakech on the clay where Babos recorded her first win against Mladenovic. Interestingly, Mladenovic hasn’t won a WTA main draw match on grass since 2013 in Birmingham.

The final quarter features Jelena Jankovic… I love JJ, but her and grass don’t mix very well! After a first round loss at Roland Garros, Jankovic will be looking for some joy against Tereza Smitkova in the first round. Since reaching the final of Birmingham in 2012, Jankovic has won just one match on grass. Johanna Larsson, the world number 54, is the other seed in this section and plays Klara Koukalova in the first round. Annika Beck and Lesia Tsurenko are also located in this section.

I’m going for a few wild predictions because heyy, it’s the first week on grass and it’s a WTA International event!

1st Round Predictions: Bouchard d. Shvedova in 2 tight sets, Erakovic d. Witthoeft in 3 sets, Giorgi d. Falconi in 3 tight sets, Vandeweghe d. Mitu in 2 tight sets, Babos d. Mladenovic in 3 sets, Flipkens d. Nara in 2 tight sets, Van Uytvanck d. Rodina in 2 sets, Koukalova d. Larsson in 3 sets and Smitkova d. Jankovic in 2 sets

Final prediction: Bencic d. Giorgi