Today’s Women’s Feature (08/06)

Written by: Staff on 6th August 2012

Today's Women's Feature (08/06)

epa03340116 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in action during the women's bronze medal match against Maria Kirilenko of Russia at the London 2012 Olympic Games Tennis competition in Wimbledon, Greater London, Britain, 04 August 2012. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Women’s Look Forward: Canadian Open

For an event right after the Olympics, the initial field was pretty impressive. They were supposed to have the entire Top Ten.

Then defending champion Serena Williams pulled out, which made it nine. And Vera Zvonareva is still hurting, as are Kaia Kanepi and Andrea Petkovic. Maria Kirilenko isn’t here either. Still, we have eleven of last week’s top twelve, and twelve of the top fifteen.

The fact that every seed has a first round bye no doubt helps. The Tuesday start may have been big, too. World #1 Victoria Azarenka has the top seed. Agnieszka Radwanska is down to #3, but she is seeded #2. Maria Sharapova is seeded #3 — and, unfortunately, landed in Azarenka’s half, so that any contest for the #1 ranking will be in the semifinal, not the final. In Serena’s absence, Samantha Stosur is #4, Petra Kvitova #5, Angelique Kerber #6, Caroline Wozniacki #7, Sara Errani #8, Marion Bartoli #9, Li Na #10, Ana Ivanovic #11, and Dominika Cibulkova #12. It starts to fade a little below that as we get to players who don’t have to meet such strict rankings requirements and find it easier to skip the event; Jelena Jankovic is #13, Flavia Pennetta #14, Sabine Lisicki #15, Lucie Safarova #16.

That still leaves a lot of tough unseeded players. Azarenka is likely to meet Julia Goerges, who just missed seeding, in her opener. Bartoli could open against Peng Shuai. Sharapova’s first opponent is likely to be Christina McHale. Jankovic may start against Daniela Hantuchova. Wozniacki’s opener could be against Nadia Petrova. Ivanovic will have to start against Roberta Vinci or Yanina Wickmayer. And Radwanska could face Mona Barthel.

The doubles draw is worth talking about just because so many players seem to have changed teams. Huber/Raymond are still together as the #1 seeds (despite Huber’s Olympic injury) and Errani/Vinci are #2. But Nadia Petrova has teamed with Katarina Srebotnik to take the #3 seeds. Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta are back together as the #4 seeds; no sign of Paola Suarez. Kveta Peschke, who had been with Srebotnik in the first half, is seeded #7 here with Julia Goerges. We do find that Llagostera Vives/Martinez Sanchez are sticking together; they’re #5.

The Rankings

If you hear a sigh of relief some time about now, it’s probably us being thankful that finally, finally, the calendars are re-aligning. What comes off this week is the same as what comes on. Last year’s Canadian title went to Serena Williams (who of course is not back), with Samantha Stosur the finalist. Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska were semifinalists; Roberta Vinci, Andrea Petkovic, Lucia Safarova, and Galina Voskoboeva were quarterfinalists. Maria Sharapova lost in the Round of Sixteen.

Which means a very hot contest for #1, because Azarenka and Sharapova come in effectively tied. Whoever lasts longer will probably get it — although, if both lose in the middle rounds, the top spot could go to Sharapova because she has more room to add points. Radwanska has a chance also, but not much of one.

Serena will be safe at #4 even after her points come off. But Stosur’s #5 spot is in minor danger, with Kvitova and Kerber both having chances at her. Kvitova and Kerber are close to tied in the contest for #6. Then comes a big gap, so there is no risk of them falling below #7. Caroline Wozniacki is probably safe at #8. We’d guess that Sara Errani and Marion Bartoli will stay Top Ten, but it’s possible that Li Na or Ana Ivanovic or Dominika Cibulkova could overtake one of them, with Bartoli being the one in greater danger.

Andrea Petkovic will be falling out of the Top Twenty, with Nadia Petrova the best bet to replace her.

Galina Voskoboeva lost in the qualifying final (to Aravane Rezai), so she will be dropping well below #70.