Miami Preview: Women's Edition

Hey Y'all.

The ladies draw is out, so I'll do a quick run down. I'll cover the doubles and the men's side later this week. The doubles draw isn't even out yet. So here we go. I think you can probably guess who the top seed is...

SECTION 1: SERENA
...The question is how injured is Serena. That's the only thing that stands in her way. She has the young guns in her section like Shelby Rogers and CiCi Bellis. Zarina Diyas also lies here just like in Indian Wells. Diyas may do a little better, but Serena on 40% would probably make the fourth round. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Heather Watson are both capable of making runs but Watson's fitness will make a difference here. Angelique Kerber has slipped to 15th in the world. When in a slump it's hard to get out of it. I'm going to stick with Sveta Kuznetsova here. She only has to turn up twice. Surely that's not too much to ask.
SERENA D. KUZNETSOVA
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SECTION 2: IVANOVIC
...Monica Puig lurks for Ana Ivanovic here. If Julie Goerges defeats Jane Cepelova then she gets Sabine Lisicki. That all-German match up should be good. I just don't know about Lisicki. I think Lisicki and Ivanovic will play in the third round. They've met five times since Stuttgart last year and Ana leads 4-1. The Serb also won 6-3, 6-0 in Dubai this year. Talented Lauren Davis is accompanied by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Vera Zvonareva here. Sara Errani and Garbine Muguruza are the seeds. I like this draw for Muguruza.
MUGURUZA D. IVANOVIC
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SECTION 3: HALEP... err, Vaidisova
...Here in the Vaidisova section Simona Halep is the biggest seed, but who cares? I like Vaidisova to be the Cinderella here and win a match then get a set up on Halep before losing in three. Camila Giorgi is also here. She could upset Halep on her best day. Vika Azarenka vs. Jelena Jankovic and Tsvetana Pironkova vs. Flavia Pennetta looks likely here. I do like the diversity of games and careers in this section. It's like someone put the WTA on shuffle. Azarenka can beat Jankovic. She can beat anyone. And Pironkova? Sadly for the Bulgarian, she isn't playing on grass.
HALEP D. PENNETTA
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SECTION 4: BOUCHARD
...Yaroslava Shvedova, Sloane Stephens and Yanina Wickmayer are here and they could all catch fire and win three matches in a row. Lucie Safarova and Madison Keys are starting to find consistency and I think they will almost certainly clash in the third round. Daniela Hantuchova, Belinda Bencic and Roberta Vinci are in the lower half. I liked Bencic's run in Indian Wells. Switzerland has enjoyed a rich vein of tennis form since about 1990, though without the sheer numbers of Russia or Spain. If only Bouchard and Sloane could pull a Freaky Friday at slams and on the tour. Both need what the other has. Casey Dellacqua is seen here, too, playing a spoiler role.
KEYS D. BOUCHARD [Never underestimate home support. It really helps unless your initials are S.S.]
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SECTION 5: RADWANSKA
...If Aga Radwanska just went back to Poland until Wimbledon would anyone notice? A former champion here, she is in dire straits. She struggles on clay and, after this tournament, it's a long time til we leave the dirt. Polona Hercog and Irina-Camelia Begu are also here. They could both go on runs. Hercog has been to finals before, but this isn't her best surface. Tereza Smitkova is also dangerous. CSN has a lovely draw. She is ranked 12, her highest ever ranking. Kirsten Flipkens could be her first match. After that she plays Elena Vesnina or Alize Cornet. To beat Cornet you need to be consistent. That is something the Spaniard can do.
CSN D. A.RADWANSKA
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SECTION 6: WOZNIACKI
...Sam Stosur and Venus Williams will play out a good match in the third round. Physically they will have too much for Coco Vandeweghe and Kiki Bertens. Stosur struggles against the Williams sisters. Still, Serena is 19-4 in slam finals. Who beat here? Venus, Maria, Venus and Sam. Stosur is the only one not to be number one at some point and the only one to do it outside of Wimbledon. Kaia Kanepi and Varvara Lepchenko lurk here. Both can trouble the Woz. Neither will. And if you think Sam struggles against the Williamses, well, then take a look at ATP BACKSPIN'S "Stat of the Day":



V.WILLIAMS D. WOZNIACKI [Woz is also 1-10 against the younger sister]
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SECTION 7: MAKAROVA
...Bojana Jovanovski plays Mona Barthel for the right to play 26th seed Elina Svitolina. One of those three -- they have an average age of 22 -- will make the third round. Svitolina is just 20 and is ranked 27. The other two are at 39 [Barthel] and 65. Does this mean that the 2012 batch of rising stars is already old news? Ekaterina Makarova is also here and she hasn't made a surprising run in about three weeks. Sorana Cirstea plays Christina Mchale whilst Klara Koukalova plays Kristina Mladenovic. BZS and Andrea Petkovic are here, too. This will be one of the most intriguing sections to watch. Petkovic could easily make the quarters or beyond and increase her ranking. She could cement a place in the top ten.
MAKAROVA D. PETKOVIC
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SECTION 8: SHARAPOVA
...Annika Beck should play Karolina Pliskova here. When I write the 2019 predictions for this event, they will both be seeded and probably fairly highly. And I'll write what an exciting quarterfinal clash. But we are in 2015. Petra Cetkovska and Peng Shuai are tricky customers. They have a different style of play. Maria Sharapova is 5-1 in semi-finals here, but 0-5 in finals. She has taken one set in a final and that was against Serena. She made the final 2011-13 and the semis last year. Ajla Tomljanovic and Caroline Garcia are in her section. Kurumi Nara, too. Sharapova could play left handed and probably scrape through.
SHARAPOVA D. KA.PLISKOVA
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*4th Round*
S. Williams d. Kuznetsova
Muguruza d. Ivanovic
Halep d. Pennetta
Keys d. Bouchard
CSN D. Radwanska
V. Williams d. Wozniacki
Makarova d. Petkovic
Sharapova d. Ka Pliskova

*QF*
Serena d. Muguruza
Halep d. Keys
V. Williams d. CSN
Sharapova d. Makarova

*SF*
Halep d. S. Williams [the knee injury has to affect her]
Sharapova d. V. Williams [5-1 in semi-finals]

*FINAL*
Sharapova d. Halep

...Halep has struggled to solve Maria, but Maria has struggled to win in Miami. One of those hoodoos has to be broken. Maria can't go 0-6 in Miami finals. There isn't anything more un-Sharapova like.

Thanks all. See you soon!

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