Only six of the women in the draw have ever tasted the thrill of a Grand Slam victory before, namely Kim Clijsters, Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Francesca Schiavone, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams. Will we get a repeat champion? Or for the second time this season, will we see a champion emerge seemingly out of nowhere?
First Quarter
Caroline Wozniacki couldn’t have gotten her US Open pursuit off to a better start. She’s arriving in NYC fresh off her 3rd straight Pilot Pen title. Her confidence is at an all-time high, but it remains to be seen whether this will affect her legs and stamina. Does she have seven more wins left in her tank? If the answer’s yes, she’ll walk away from Flushing Meadows with her maiden Grand Slam title—and the world number one tennis ranking.
It won’t be easy for the top seed as she’s in the same section of the draw as two former US Open champions, both bent on redemption. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova have experienced the joys of winning the trophy in New York and are willing to do anything they can to taste that glory once again.
Second Quarter
Jelena Jankovic’s floating completely under the radar this year. As such, that makes her a player to watch. She’s been playing solid, if not spectacular tennis this season, and the crowd at the USO has been known to help her produce some of her best tennis. This second quarter is wide open and is full of players who are capable of shaking things up a bit. Vera Zvonareva’s back to her top form and more importantly, playing consistent tennis. Other players to keep an eye on include Nadia Petrova, Yanina Wickmayer, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Third Quarter
It’s a rare event when we see a major tournament without both Williams sisters, but this time, it’s Venus’ chance to uphold the family’s stake at Grand Slams. A question mark does hang over Venus’ head as she’s headed into the US Open without any matches since Wimbledon. Venus is often very vulnerable in the early rounds of majors, so if she’s not match fit, she could be in danger of an early round upset.
Her first round against Roberta Vinci will be a good test for her and if she moves through the draw, she should be ready to face big hitting Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, feisty Victoria Azarenka or this year’s Roland Garros surprise, Francesca Schiavone.
Fourth Quarter
Take a hat, throw some marked pieces of paper in it, pull out a player’s name and you might have a shot at determining the semifinalist from the bottom half of the draw. Kim Clijsters is the favorite, but this section is packed with dangerous floaters including Dinara Safina, Marion Bartoli, Jie Zheng, Daniela Hantuchova, Alisa Kleybanova and Samantha Stosur.
Semifinal Predictions:
Maria Sharapova d. Vera Zvonareva
Victoria Azarenka d. Samantha Stosur
Championship Match Predictions:
Maria Sharapova d. Victoria Azarenka
Who do you think will win the women’s title? Leave a comment with your pick!
Looks fairly wide open this year. Caroline Wozniacki will not get a better chance to get her first Slam title or Maria Sharapova to get back to winning ways.
Maria Sharapova.
Sharapova :)
I think Maria can do it. I’m so curious to see what Venus can do on no match play.
Kim will be tough, as this is her surface – but it’ll be hard to repeat. Lots of options, without Serena and Justine. Vera is going to be in the running as well.
Svetlana Kuznetsova to win US Open ladies title.
It’s a real shame that Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki would meet as early as the fourth round. Maria leads their head-to-head 2:0, but those were both in 2008, and it would be most intriguing to see how they would match up now. Caroline has come so far since 2008, but I still believe that Maria on good form would be too strong for her.
Whoever wins that match will have a good chance of going all the way, although she’d still have to overcome up to three of the other genuine title-contenders: Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals, Vera Zvonarëva in the semi-finals, and Victoria Azarenka or Kim Clijsters in the final.
Women’s tennis is very entertaining to watch since just about any of the top seeds can be beaten on any given day by someone ranked in the top 100.
I like the big hitter Petra Kvitova but she’s not consistent enough for an entire championship, so it has to be a Russian. Definitely not the Golden Retriever Wozniacki.
I think Venus can win this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Venus d. Sharapova
I’m betting on elena dementieva !