2014 Montreal - Previews

Note: Sorry for not blogging in quite a while, I haven't really been very organised especially during the Wimbledon/French Open period...
The US Open series is here! I'm very excited for this series as I want to see how the aftermath of Wimbledon pans out, especially since there are no more Canadians left in the draw as I type. ON a side note, it seems that Li Na is really on the verge of retirement because she has pulled out of all the US Open series events, and that makes me a little sad. But anyway, here's my preview of the tournament from the second round onwards:

Quarter 1: [1] Serena Williams vs [5] Eugenie Bouchard

Williams and Bouchard were meant to play each other in the quarterfinals if they both made it there, but Bouchard has already lost to Shelby Rogers 0-6, 6-2, 0-6. To be honest, I really don't know why Bouchard lost, but she seemed annoyed and pissed off during her match today. This means that the players left in this quarter are:

• [1] S. Williams vs. Stosur
• Rybarikova vs. [15] Safarova
• [11] Wozniacki vs. Koukalova
• Rogers def. [5] Bouchard

Of those match ups, I think that Williams will beat Stosur, as Stosur really hasn't been playing well, she has only won matches she ought to win and nothing else. I definitely want Safarova to play Williams in the third round because I think she is a player who has had such bad luck, especially with draws and if not for her bad luck would definitely be ranked higher. If they were to play against each other though, I think Safarova doesn't have it within her to defeat Williams though. Williams is a much stronger player, and as much power and cunning Safarova can generate with her powerful lefty serve and swings, Williams can do better.

In the other half, I would take Wozniacki to beat both Koukalova and Rogers, because as much as Rogers played well against Bouchard, I honestly believe that Wozniacki's game will unravel her. Rogers is a player who likes hitting hard and deep, and Wozniacki's unrelenting defence will surely annoy her and force her to make a lot of errors.

Prediction: [1] Serena Williams. vs. [11] Caroline Wozniacki

 

Quarter 2: [4] Maria Sharapova vs [6] Angelique Kerber

As I'm writing this, Sharapova's second round opponent is being decided right now, a contest between Garbine Muguruza and Stephanie Dubois, where Muguruza has one the first set 6-1 and they are currently in a tiebreak at 6-all. Assuming that Muguruza does squeak this one out, here's the second round matchups:

• [4] Sharapova vs. Muguruza
• [LL] Ka. Pliskova vs. [14] Suarez Navarro
• [Q] Yulia Puntinseva vs. V. Williams
• Garcia vs. [6] Kerber

To me personally, these match ups don't seem very interesting, especially considering that  none of my favourite players are here and that there doesn't seem to be any potential upsets, maybe except Garcia vs. Kerber. I'm pretty sure that Sharapova will be a little rusty after Wimbledon, but a loss to Muguruza wouldn't be expected though, as Sharapova will fight to make sure she doesn't lose early. Pliskova on the other hand, is a very lucky girl, having lost to Bacsinszky in the quarters (who ended up against Ivanovic on the draw), and then drawing a Lucky Loser spot against Wickmayer. Luck of the draw I guess... Pliskova and Suarez Navarro have never competed against each other, but Suarez Navarro is a grinder, and should be able to put Pliskova away though.

Puntinseva used to be quite an over-hyped junior, but she has fallen away now, and hasn't really done much once she transitioned into the senior circuit (even though she's still coached by Martina Hingis), and I don't really see her posing a threat for Williams at all. In the most interesting match of the quarter, I think that Garcia will be able to squeak out a three set win against Kerber, especially considering their H2H, which is 1-0 in favour of Garcia. The match Garcia won was in Madrid this year, and she won with a retirement from Kerber after having won the first set 6-3. Even though Kerber is still in the top 10, I don't think she is anything special and Garcia, I think, will win this one.

In terms of the third round, I really don't see it going any other way that Sharapova and Williams, and it should be an extremely interesting quarterfinal, should it go that way.

Prediction: [4] Sharapova vs. V. Williams

Quarter 3: [3] Agnieszka Radwanska vs. [8] Victoria Azarenka

Today, they've decided to play the Radwanska and Azarenka matches earlier, and Radwanska def. Zahlavova Strycova 6-4, 6-4; and in the other match, Azarenka leads Cornet 6-4, 1-2. Again, I'm going to assume that Azarenka will win her 2nd round match and my predictions will be based off that. Here are the other matchups:

• [8] Azarenka def. Cornet
• [Q] Watson vs. [10] Cibulkova
• Lisicki vs. Keys
• [4] A. Radwanska def. Zahlavova Strycova

In the other two matchups which haven't been played, I think that both are quite interesting, as all the players are coming back from different letdowns of some sort. In the first match, I think that whilst Cibulkova did win her match against Abanda, the fact that she couldn't put her away in 2 sets gives me doubts about her ability to defeat Watson, considering that she really hasn't played well for the whole year, except the run at the Australian Open. As a result, I think Watson will be able to defeat Cibulkova in 3 sets, especially due to her new found confidence and general results in the past few weeks. In the other match, I think that Lisicki will win, especially since her let down at Wimbledon was somewhat expected and she will want to get past that. Her loss to Ivanovic at Stanford was not that bad (especially considering her record-breaking serve) and she will definitely have a lot of confidence after beating Errani in straight sets in the first round.

In terms of the third round matchups, I think they will go the way of the seeds, because although Azarenka hasn't had great results over the past few weeks, her draws have been relatively bad and this small opening for her is something she will want to take in order to boost her ranking. Also, Radwanska is cunning, and should be able to negate Lisicki when she throws the kitchen sink at her.

Predictions: [8] Victoria Azarenka vs. [4] Agnieszka Radwanska

Fourth Quarter: [7] Jelena Jankovic vs. [2] Petra Kvitova

This quarter is one which is particularly representative of the old powerhouses of tennis, USA, Russia and Serbia, with two players from each country in this quarter. Surprisingly, Stephens has done badly enough over this year to fall out of the top 16/7, and now doesn't have a seed to protect her from difficult matches early on. Also, recent Wimbledon champion Kvitova is here, but Petkovic had to withdraw injured from Stanford with Vesnina replacing her. Here are the matchups:

• [7] Jankovic vs. Stephens
• [Q] Vandeweghe vs. [9] Ivanovic
• [LL] Vesnina vs. Makarova
• Dellacqua vs. [2] Kvitova

As much as Stephens is a technically sound player, her change of coach and her fall in the ranks is representative of what her year has been like - rather mediocre. As much as she will be able to defeat Jankovic, I don't think she will because of her attitude recently, and the fact that Jankovic will want to win this more than Stephens will. Vandeweghe on the other hand will really want to beat Ivanovic, having re-entered the top 50 with her win over Zhang Shuai and the general confidence she has. However, I still think that Ivanovic is the better player, and won't have too much trouble in defeating Vandeweghe.

Vesnina and Makarova have had a long relationship in tennis, with their H2H stemming back to 2004, and being Grand Slam doubles partners. Makarova has always been the better player in the relationship, with a 3-1 H2H, and I don't particularly seeing that changing now, especially with Makarova's better results recently. I'm pretty sure that Kvitova will be able to defeat Dellacqua, as she is not very powerful and is quite prone to rushing when she's stressed and can sometimes lose quite quickly when that happens.

I think that this time, Ivanovic will be able to defeat Jankovic, considering her much improved results and that Kvitova will be able to defeat Makarova.

Prediction: [9] Ana Ivanovic vs. [2] Petra Kvitova

Hopefully I'll be also be able to get previews of the matches from the quarterfinals on, and as always, please share this blog with others if you enjoy it and comment below if you agree or disagree with my predictions!