Sunday, January 12, 2014

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2014 - LET THE DRAMA BEGIN




The dawn of a new Grand Slam brings it with all kinds of anticipation and questions.  As much as tennis fans suffer some amount of burn out by the end of the season ending championships, much like the players do, we all look forward to the start of the season and what that holds for our favourite players.  It also helps that lots of tennis fans, especially those who reside in countries where winter is wreaking havoc, seeing sunshine, even if it is only through their tv sets must bring some amount of cheer. 

For some of us who live in warmer countries, just seeing our favourite players in their new tennis kits on the beautiful courts in Australia is enough to make us open a bottle of Red Stripe beer, turn off the cell phones, put our feet up and think #SleepIsForTheWeak

The women's draw has been made and it is as balanced as you could ever want a draw to be.  There will never be a dull moment Down Under for the ladies as every day will feature some great match ups from not only the Big 3 in women's tennis, but for those who make up the rest of the draw. 

Ace believes that the winner come from the top half of the draw and his quarter final and onwards picks are below:

Q1: S Williams vs Bouchard
Q2: Li vs Kvitova
Q3: Petkovic vs Sharapova
Q4: Wozniacki vs Azarenka

S1: S Williams vs Li
S2: Sharapova vs Azarenka

F: S Williams vs Sharapova

W: S Williams

Ace has made some bold predictions with the various quarters and it will be interesting to see how Ace's picks pan out over the next few weeks

As is the norm, Spin will be giving her picks on each day of play followed up by a review of the best match of the day. 

Tennis fans will be getting a good look at what the new hires have brought to the games of some of our favourite players and Spin readers can vote to see which player has gained the most from her recent coaching hire.  

Day 1 OOP and Spin's Picks 

Serena Williams (USA) [1] v Ashleigh Barty (AUS) - Williams
Vesna Dolonc (SRB) v Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) - Dolonc

Pauline Parmentier (FRA) v Karolina Pliskova (CZE) - Pliskova
Heather Watson (GBR) v Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) [31] - Hantuchova




Samantha Stosur (AUS) [17] v Klara Zakopalova (CZE) - Stosur

Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) v Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) - Pironkova
Annika Beck (GER) v Petra Martic (CRO) - Beck 
Kiki Bertens (NED) v Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [14] - Ivanovic




Roberta Vinci (ITA) [12] v Jie Zheng (CHN) - Zheng

P.Mayr-Achleitner (AUT) v Madison Keys (USA) - Keys 
Casey Dellacqua (AUS) v Vera Zvonareva (RUS) - Dellacqua
Laura Robson (GBR) v Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) [18] - Flipkens




Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) [30] v Hao Chen Tang (CHN) - Bouchard

Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) v Virginie Razzano (FRA) - Razzano 
Sachia Vickery (USA) Lauren Davis (USA) - Davis
Julia Goerges (GER) v Sara Errani (ITA) [7] - Errani




Na Li (CHN) [4] v Ana Konjuh (CRO) - Li 

Belinda Bencic (SUI) v Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) - Krumm
Donna Vekic (CRO) v Lucie Hradecka (CZE) - Vekic
Julia Glushko (ISR) v Lucie Safarova (CZE) [26] - Safarova




Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) [22] v Venus Williams (USA) - Williams

A.Medina Garrigues (ESP) v Irina Falconi (USA) - Falconi
Shahar Peer (ISR) v Monica Niculescu (ROU) - Niculescu
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) v Sabine Lisicki (GER) [15] - Lisicki




Angelique Kerber (GER) [9] v Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) - Kerber

Caroline Garcia (FRA) v Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) - Garcia
Dinah Pfizenmaier (GER) v Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) - Pfizenmaier
Alison Riske (USA) v Elena Vesnina (RUS) [23] - Riske




Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [28] v Alexandra Cadantu (ROU) - Pennetta

Monica Puig (PUR) v Ana Tatishvili (GEO) - Puig
Shuai Zhang (CHN) v Mona Barthel (GER)- Zhang
Luksika Kumkhum (THA) v Petra Kvitova (CZE) [6] - Kvitova

Let the carnage begin

1 comment:

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