By Patrick Hinton @TWMasterAce
With the pullout of Maria Sharapova,
Sara Errani was given a quarter and without further fanfare, here is a look at
each quarter. Numbers and letters (F = floater) in parthensis are where the
players were in my WTA contenders and floaters article.
First
quarter
Top 4 players – (1) Serena Williams,
(F)Angelique Kerber, Kirsten Flipkens and (10) Sloane Stephens
This section should not be difficult for
S Williams. However, we could have a Labor Day battle between S Williams and
Stephens, which would be a rematch of the 2013 Australian Open quarterfinals. Sloane
recently fell in the quarter-final in New Haven against former No. 1. Caroline
Wozniacki. Also, featured players below
the top four in this quarter are V Williams, 2000-2001 champion, Jamie Hampton
and the return of Kaia Kanepi, who has been MIA since her quarter final loss to
this year’s Wimbledon finalist, Sabine Lisicki.
She has not played any tune up events, and it will be a miracle if she
makes it pass the first round.
Predicted quarterfinal – S Williams vs V
Williams with S Williams advancing to the semifinals
Second
quarter
Top 4 players – (4) Agnieszka Radwanska,
(3)Na Li, (8) Jelena Jankovic and Sabine Lisicki
This section is the most difficult
quarter. The featured players below the top four are Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who
double faulted her way out of a semifinal place in New Haven, (F) Sorana
Cirstea, who made the finals of Toronto, Ekaterina Makarova, Laura Robson, who
eliminated Kim Clijsters and Li last year and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Interesting that Pauline Parmentier gave her wildcard to Virginie Razzano, who
made the semifinals at Carlsbad.
Predicted quarterfinal – A Radwanska vs
Jankovic with A Radwanska advancing to the semifinals
Third
quarter
Top 4 players – (F) Sara Errani, (9)
Caroline Wozniacki, Roberta Vinci and (F)Maria Kirilenko
This section is the one where someone
that is not known could make a breakthrough to the semifinals as the heavy
hitters are not located here. Featured players below the top four in this
quarter are (F) Simona Halep, who has won 3 titles in 5 weeks after the French
Open, Elena Vesnina, who Pete Bodo is predicting to make the semifinals,
Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2004 champion and the ever dangerous Lucie Safarova.
Predicted quarterfinal – Wozniacki vs
Halep with Wozniacki advancing to the semifinals
Fourth
quarter
Top 4 players – (2) Victoria Azarenka,
(6) Petra Kvitova, (7) Samantha Stosur and Ana Ivanovic
This section is the most aggressive
quarter. The featured players below the top four are Dominika
Cibulkova, 2013 Stanford winner, Nadia Petrova, Andrea Petkovic and Varvara
Lepchenko. Also, returning back to the tour is Aleksandra Wozniak, who lost a
tight 3 setter against Ekaterina Makarova in New Haven.
Predicted quarterfinal – Stsour vs
Azarenka with Azarenka advancing to the semifinals
Semifinals
S Williams vs A Radwanska – In their
last meeting at Toronto, A Radwanska played a tight 2 setter but S Williams was
tougher on the bigger points. At 2012 Wimbledon, A Radwanska forced a 3rd
set once S Williams got nervous leading by a set and a break. If A Radwanska
was to pull off the upset, she must win the crucial points.
Wozniacki vs Azarenka – In their last
meeting at Cincinnati, Wozniacki played more aggressive than expected but lost
in straight set as Azarenka played the crucial points better. Wozniacki did
show improvements but in order for her to win, she must continue to be
aggressive.
Predicted final – S Williams vs Azarenka
Final
S Williams vs Azarenka – In three finals
played in 2013, Azarenka has won two. Azarenka wins were at Doha and Cincinnati
with S Williams winning in Rome. In last year’s title match, Azarenka rallied
from a set down to lead 5-3 in the final set but could not close the match. In
their last meeting in Cincinnati, Azarenka repeated the same story as last year
United States Open but stepped her game up when S Williams was serving for the
title and the winning point in the match, in my opinion, was the volley
Azarenka made in the deciding tiebreaker to earn her second match point. A key
point in that tiebreak was S Williams missed a backhand long as she had the
open court as Azarenka was pulled wide and if I recall, would have given S
Williams 2 match points. S Williams must get cheap points on her serve and
footwork must improve. Azarenka must be returning well and stay mentally
focused for the entire match.
Predicted
champion – Victoria Azarenka
