I Refuse to be Held Responsible for these Picks! The Women’s Draw at BNP Paribas at Indian Wells

Written by: Tennischiro on 10th March 2012

I Refuse to be Held Responsible for these Picks! The Women’s Draw at BNP Paribas at Indian Wells

epa03069934 Vania King of the USA returns a shot to Ana Ivanovic of Serbia at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 21 January 2012. EPA/DAVID CROSLING AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

OK. I said I would try to do the same thing for the women’s draw that I did for the men’s draw earlier today. I’m already behind before I even start. I mentioned earlier today (https://archive.10sballs.com/2012/03/07/how-do-you-look-at-the-draws-bnp-paribas-indian-wells/) that I would keep an eye on “floater” Sara Errani and she lost to American Vania King in straight sets today. Perhaps the transition from the clay to the hard courts in such a short time had something to do with that. More likely it was the good play of one of the best voiced players in professional tennis. I’d like to see her try to go pipe-for-pipe with Azarenka. Now that could get some serious publicity for women’s tennis! Fortunately for all of us, Vania saves her high pitched renderings for more appropriate times like singing the national anthem. But it is fun to ponder. As Vania’s coach I could tell Vania going out to play Vika or Sharapova to try to scream her loudest just as her opponent is hitting the ball. When the inevitable inquiry comes from the umpire, simply explain that it is her method of focusing her attention on the ball strike of her opponent and getting a good reaction to that ball. I suspect Vania could do more to forward the women’s game than she imagines by such a tactic. I suspect she has enough voice control to make everyone forget about all these offkey screamers. Of course, she would offer to keep quiet if the umpire requires it from her opponent as well. Game! Set! Match! And a big win for women’s tennis and all of our eardrums! Oh, I can dream!..Back to reality: Others I mentioned that played today included Japanese players Morita and Date-Krumm. Morita lost, but Date-Krumm won. So 1 out of 3. Keep that in mind before you decide to bet the next mortgage payment based on the following predictions!

Women’s Draw First Quarter, Round of 32 Matches, assuming fulfilled seedings

Azarenka/Kuznetsova. The two-time Grand Slam champion is always dangerous and that should be one of the better third round matches.

Medina Garrigues/Goerges. I’m always a fan of watching any of the Deutche Valkirie: Petkovic, Goerges and Lisicki. But Julia should not having making her appointed meeting in the round of 16 with Azarenka. Mirza is a great doubles player and could make things interesting for Medina Garrigues on hard courts, but she already dropped a set today in a first round match against a qualifier, Garrois.

Jankovic/Wickmayer. Jankovic has done very well here and the 6′ Belgian is one of the embodiments of “Big Babe Tennis”, but the 22 year-old has struggled against the top players. If Jankovic plays well, she is still trouble for anyone. I would love to see her hook up with the “right” coach who could help her realize her true potential and move back up the rankings, if not all the way to the #1 position she achieved in 2008.

Pennetta/Radwanska. Pennetta is much better than her #27 seeding. Her fight to the quarterfinals at last year’s US Open was a marvelous tribute to perseverance and guts. Any average fan would be amazed to hear Pennetta was ranked #1 in doubles last year; accordingly, she should be considered a threat on hardcourts. Radwanska is the one who has made the move to #5 winning Dubai, but she flew to Kuala Lumpur where pulled out in her third match. What was that about? Unless it was serious, the 23 year-old Pole should move comfortably to the quarters.

Azarenka has a couple of tough opponents along the way, but she should move comfortably to the quarters, where she should face Radwanska. Agnieszka beat Jankovic 6-0 in the third in Dubai. There was a little extra going on the last time Vika met Aggie with Radwanska apparently somewhat disturbed by her former doubles partner’s grunting. Her matches against her bigger hitting opponents are interesting because she plays with sometimes seemingly forgotten tools like variety, disguise, change of pace and, omg, even the occasional net rush. Probably be an interesting matchd!

Women’s Draw Second Quarter, Round of 32 Matches, assuming fulfilled seedings

Kvitova/Mchale. The young American will be challenged right away by Vesnina. Kvitova is way ahead of almost everyone if she is at all sharp, but she hasn’t played a match in over a month and her first match is against a fellow Czech who had a match point on her in Paris Indoors last year. Still, Kvitova should be fine.

Kerber/Pavlyuchenkova. You know the names on the men’s side are bad enough, but all the East European women standouts make it very hard for some of us to keep track. And I spent a season as a tennis coach in Germany and can still speak a little of it. In any case, these are both tough players. Kerber faces Sloane Stephens, a big hitting young American who won a 9-7, third set tie-breaker today while Anastasia will have to deal with Vania King. I like Vania King, but Pavlyuchenkova is a favorite here.

Zvonereva/Hantuchova. The Moscow student of International Economic Relations has won this tournament (2009). Date-Krumm will make her play and so will Hantuchova, but she should prevail.

Zheng/Li. The two Chinese players will get a chance to play for the chance to play Zvonereva in the 16s. Jie may resent the fact that Li Na is now the best paid woman athlete in the world. (Think endorsements!)

Zvonereva vs Li should be a good match, but if she plays close to her potential, look for Kvitova to show she is ready to challenge Azarenka.

Women’s Draw Third Quarter, Round of 32 Matches, assuming fulfilled seedings

Bartoli/Kanepi. I like a lot of things Bartoli does. She takes the ball early. She attacks. And she gives interesting, intelligent answers to questions in her press conferences. But Kanepi pulls off upsets. Pick em!

Safarova/Schiavone. Safarova played an exciting first two sets against Bartoli in Dubai. In fact, I think she wore Bartoli out for her match with Azarenka. Safarova should get another chance at Bartoli after she dispenses with Schiavone or maybe Shahar Peer who likes the desert.

Ivanovic/Peng. If Ivanovic is really ready to start playing well again, it would be great for women’s tennis. Great for all the male spectators too! I can see the mixed doubles exo now: Ivanovic/Scott vs Wozniacki/McIlroy. No, really… let’s not go there!

Niculescu/Wozniacki. Speak of the devil. Should be no trouble here for Caro, but Bethanie Mattek-Sands could give here a little unwelcome surprise in her first match. Niculescu is a great study in getting everything you can out of what you’ve got. But it won’t work here.

NO IDEA for the 3rd Quarter. But I’d like to see the player I saw perform in her second set against Bartoli in Dubai show up for 2 or 3 matches in a row. If she did, she would be fun to watch play any of the top women.

Women’s Draw Fourth Quarter, Round of 32 Matches, assuming fulfilled seedings

Stosur/Petrova. Two serve-and-volleyers, but the edge should go to Stosur. Petrova is always dangerous on a hard court if she starts serving well.

Kirilenko/Lisicki. This should be Lisicki.

Cibulkova/Vinci. Going with Cibulkova.

Cetkovska/Sharapova. Dulko/Dokic would be a fun first round to watch, but Sharapova should not be troubled here.

It should be Stosur/Sharapova, but Stosur has been spotty the last few weeks and there are a couple good chances for her to have trouble before the quarterfinals. Sharapova should make it to the quarters with minimum fuss.

For the overall draw, I think the winner of the top half wins the final, but let’s see what happens the next few days!

10sChiro

to see other articles by 10sChiro, go to
https://archive.10sballs.com/category/columnists/dr-chiro/

Topics: Elena Jankoviic, Li Na, Medina Garrigues/Goerges, Pennetta/Radwanska, Sania Mirza, Sara Errani, Vania King, Victoria Azarenka, Wickmayer

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