Women Tennis Update – Indian Wells Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Written by: Staff on 5th March 2013

Women Tennis Update - Indian Wells Wednesday, March 6, 2013

epa03609848 Serena Williams of the US hits a return shot to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus the BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden New York, New York, USA, 04 March 2013. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT |

How much company would Serena Williams have?

Injuries being what they are these days, that was our question as we waited for someone to actually post the Indian Wells draw. We knew that Serena would not play despite being the top player in the world. Sister Venus wouldn’t be present either. But… who else?

As it turns out, Li Na isn’t going to be here either. That gives us eight of the Top Ten. And, other than Venus, everyone else is here; the seed list is as follows:

1 Azarenka

2 Sharapova

3 A Radwanska

4 Kerber

5 Kvitova

6 Errani

7 Stosur

8 Wozniacki

9 Bartoli

10 Petrova

11 Ivanovic

12 Cibulkova

13 Kirilenko

14 Vinci

15 Stephens

16 Safarova

17 Makarova

18 Jankovic

19 Zakopalova

20 Hsieh

21 Goerges

22 Lepchenko

23 Paszek

24 Barthel

25 Suarez Navarro

26 Pavlyuchenkova

27 Cirstea

28 Flipkens

29 Vesnina

30 Wickmayer

31 Shvedova

32 Peng

That gives us 32 of the top 35 players. The only other Top Forty player missing is Sabine Lisicki.

Even with players below #30 being seeded, several of the seeds could have a tough time. Azarenka may open against Daniela Hantuchova, who loves this event. Flipkens may start against Monica Niculescu, who is in hot form after winner her first title. Hsieh will face either Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who beat her at Kuala Lumpur, or Jamie Hampton, who has been playing very well. Stephens is likely to open against Urszula Radwanska, who just missed seeding. Wozniacki’s opener is against Alize Cornet, who also just missed seeding. Kerber, who is struggling, will face a promising youngster, either Heather Watson or Irina-Camelia Begu. Mona Barthel will face either Annika Beck or Kiki Bertens, both quite promising. Peng may face long-absent Alexandra Dulgheru. Stosur may well open against Madison Keys, yet another promising young American. Kirilenko will face the winner of a match between Tsvetana Pironkova and Christina McHale. Jankovic may have to start against Svetlana Kuznetsova (ouch — she can’t have liked the look of that draw!). Vinci may start against Zheng Jie. And Sharapova — get this — will have to face either Flavia Pennetta or Francesca Schiavone, both of whom would have been high seeds a few years back. We’ve no idea which one is more messed up right now….

The Rankings

It’s going to be a dull week at the top.

That’s pretty inevitable, given that #1 Serena Williams has nothing to defend. She won’t play, either, but she obviously can’t lose any points. And Victoria Azarenka, last year’s champion, has everything to lose and nothing to gain. But Azarenka’s #2 ranking is in only modest danger, because #3 Maria Sharapova was last year’s finalist. Others with a lot to defend include semifinalists Angelique Kerber and Ana Ivanovic and quarterfinalists Agnieszka Radwanska, Li Na, Marion Bartoli, and Maria Kirilenko. Making the Round of Sixteen were Julia Goerges, Jamie Hampton, Christina McHale, Klara Zakopalova, Lucie Safarova, Caroline Wozniacki, Nadia Petrova, and Roberta Vinci. Petra Kvitova and Samantha Stosur lost in the third round; Sara Errani (who was unseeded!) lost her opener.

There truly is no contest for #1. Serena will keep that. The only question is the size of her margin, which will determine how secure she will be at Miami. There is a contest for #2 — Azarenka has a lead of about 300 safe points on Sharapova, meaning that Sharapova needs at least a semifinal to have a shot at #2, and that’s if Azarenka loses in the first few rounds. Even a title won’t be enough to guarantee Sharapova the top spot if she faces Azarenka in the final.

Azarenka and Sharapova are guaranteed to be #2 and #3. Agnieszka Radwanska, as usual, is guaranteed to stay #4. Li Na isn’t absolutely guaranteed the #5 ranking — Kerber or Kvitova or Errani could pass her with a title. But it’s the way to bet.

The #6 ranking, though, is very interesting. Kerber, Kvitova, and Errani are within 50 points of each other; odds are that the one who lasts longest will be #6.

Samantha Stosur is so far back that Kerber, Kvitova, and Errani are sure to stay Top Eight. The question is whether Stosur and Caroline Wozniacki can stay Top Ten. Stosur is almost safe; Wozniacki is a good bet but not safe at all.

Below the Top Ten there is of course a much greater prospect of movement. Ana Ivanovic is well below the Top Fifteen in safe points, and Maria Kirilenko a little below. The best bets to replace them are Sloane Stephens and Roberta Vinci. Still, we may not see a lot of really dramatic moves; there are no new names in the Top Twenty in safe points, and only one in the Top Thirty — Kirsten Flipkens is ahead of Elena Vesnina.

KEYWORDS: Preview Indian Wells Women

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: Azarenka, Indian Wells, Li Na, Serena Williams, Sharapova, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, women tennis news

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dusanVemic says:

March 5, 2013 at 9:02 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: Women Tennis Update – Indian Wells Wednesday, March 6, 2013 : http://t.co/jWn7Eex00Q #tennis