TennisChiro’s Thoughts on the Women’s Round of 16 – Australian Open 2012

Written by: Tennischiro on 21st January 2012

TennisChiro's Thoughts on the Women's Round of 16 - Australian Open 2012

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus returns to Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia on 22 January 2012. EPA/BARBARA WALTON |

Well, that was a nice trip to the gym. But the Round of 16 is already well under way. No surprise that Azarenka has taken her place in the quarters as she brushed aside unseeded Benesova, 6-2, 6-2. Likewise the smarter, steadier Radwanska has taken 8 of the first 9 games against Goerges. These outcomes were reasonably predictable, but the other two women’s matches scheduled for today are more up in the air. First seed, Caroline Wozniacki faces a player who is no stranger to late stages of the Majors, Jelena Jankovic. Plan on seeing a lot of running in this match; but they are playing the late match on Laver Arena after Federer/Tomic and they may not get to play until 3AM or later, Los Angeles time. If Tomic puts up the kind of fight the Aussies are hoping for, they may well not start until 11PM in Melbourne. That could be a slight edge for the more experienced Jankovic, but I really have no idea who will win that.

On the other hand, the other women’s match will be played following Nadal/Lopez. The mercury is projected to be well into the upper 80’s at 4:00 PM when they can hope to start and it doesn’t drop below 80 until after 9:00 PM. That match features a replay of last year’s final between Kim Clijsters and Li Na. Clijsters won that match last year, but on recent form Li Na has been playing a little better. Again I have no idea, but fitness could definitely play a factor. Li Na should have the edge there because Clijsters has been struggling with tight leg muscles, but that heat may help to loosen her up in this instance. This will be a more exciting match than Wozniacki/Jankovic with more obvious aggression and shot making. Moreover, it will be playing live at a reasonable hour for us here in the States.

In the other half tomorrow, unseeded Makarova knocked off Zvonereva only to find herself facing the 12th seed for a spot in the quarters. Problem is the 12th seed is Serena Williams. I know nothing about Makarova, but she must be playing well. Nevertheless, big edge to Serena. They’ll be playing for a spot against Sharapova or Lisicki. Edge to Sharapova, but Maria has had her share of injury problems lately too. The early, routine matches against lesser opponents don’t really tell you how fit she may be. It would be good to see her match up against Serena in the quarters.

The final quarter of the women’s draw features two unseeded players fighting for a spot in the quarters and a future number one taking on a former number one. The two unseeded players are Italian Sara Errani and China’s Jie Zheng. I have to give the experience edge to Zheng. Either one of them will be in trouble in the quarters. There they will meet two of the seemingly sweetest ladies to lead the women’s tour. They both seem to be too nice to be mean enough to carry the number one ranking. But I have picked current Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova to be the next dominant force in the women’s game and Ana Ivanovic has already held the number one ranking as well as hoisting the champion’s trophy at Roland Garros and reaching the finals here in 2008. If Ivanovic plays well, that should be an entertaining match; Ana is strong enough to counter some of Kvitova’s awesome power game, but I think Petra is probably just too much for her.

Just to complete a comparison to the men’s round of 16, 6 of the first 8 seeds made it to the 16s (Stosur and Zvonereva coming up short) and 4 of 9-16 made it through, numbers 11,12,13 and 14.

Note as I finish this up, Radwanska has completed her rout of Goerges, 6-1, 6-1 and Lopez (having dropped the first set with a double-fault laced early break), has broken back and begun to stake a position in this match, serving at 4-6, 3-3. Berdych and Almagro have just begun their match. I hope you are getting to watch some of this.

TennisChiro