We're back on American soil with the duo-tournaments Indian Wells & Miami in consecutive weeks. First up is the BNP Paribas Open:
The draw is literally packed (it got two pages for god's sake!) with only three players missing from the top 35! Na Li is still out with an ankle injury and both the Williams sisters aren't playing either (something about a conflict between their faither and the tournament director). But Serena hasn't played here in years, so this doesn't jeopardize her number one spot. Actually Azarenka needs to win the title here as she did last year to have any shot at regaining the top spot in Miami next.
So this is a quick analysis of the draw:
- Top half = Azarenka, Stephens, Petrova, Wozniacki
- Middle half (top) = Kerber, Makarova, Ivanovic, Barthel, Stosur
- Middle half (bottom) = Kvitova, Cibulkova, Radwanska
- Bottom half = Errani, Pavlyuchenkova, Jankovic, Bartoli, Sharapova
Predictions on quaterfinals: Azarenka vs. Wozniacki, Makarova vs. Stosur, Kvitova vs. Radwanska, Bartoli vs. Sharapova
Underdog of the tournament: Kuznetsova. The Russian didn't have to play qualies this time thank god, but her path to victory is quite ... impossible. Her first round is against Hlavackova, more known as a doubles player but still dangerous. Then Jankovic follows with a possible third round match-up against Bartoli. Next is either Pavlyuchenkova or Errani before clashing with most likely Sharapova for a quarterfinal spot. And then she'll have to get past Kvitova or Radwanska to play the final possibly against Azarenka. Good luck Kuznetsova!
Interesting early round matches: Schiavone vs. Pennetta (first round), Goerges vs. Robson (second round), Kerber vs. Watson (second round), Jankovic vs. Kuznetsova (second round), Sharapova vs. Schiavone (second round), Ivanovic vs. Barthel (third round), Errani vs. Pavlyuchenkova (third round).
Keep posted!
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