Dubai R2
The day was full of some great matches. Once again, Venus Williams started off her Dubai journey in style with a 61, 62 defeat of Belinda Bencic that was perhaps even more one sided than I had anticipated. Humorously, the WTA Highlights from this match include Bencic double faulting three times. Perhaps it was attempting to accentuate that she did not play her best, but surely there were more entertaining points than this.
In a disappointing turn of events, Coco Vandeweghe retired from her match against Svitolina after only four games. This always upsets me when a player retires so early into a match in the first round. I hate the idea that a lucky loser could have been given a real opportunity if that player had decided to withdraw earlier. That being said, I was doubly disappointed because this was one of the matches that I had on my matches to watch.
Round of applause for the day goes to Daniela Hantuchova who kept up her good form from last week and defeated Mona Barthel in three. While Hantuchova came to her match right from the airport after winning in Pattaya last week, it was Barthel who looked lethargic on court. Hantuchova took complete advantage of Barthel's listless play and came out the victor.
Looking out at tomorrow, there are so many excellent second round matches that it is almost too much to handle.
Matches to Watch:
Agnieszka Radwanska [5] v. Caroline Garcia
Their head-to-head is tied at 1 win a piece and both of their matches have gone to three sets. Radwanska has a 4-4 record on the year losing both of her Fed Cup matches last weekend. Garcia is 4-3 on the year and while she had a disappointing loss to Sara Errani during the Fed Cup she rebounded with a great win over Giorgi and some excellent doubles play that saw her help propel France past Italy. Garcia, also, has the advantage of having played a match already this week. That being said, Radwanska has the unequivocal advantage of having WTA Legend Martina Navratilova in her box helping her with her game plan.
Prediction: Radwanska in straight sets.
Carolina Wozniacki [3] v. Samantha Stosur
These two players have met 8 times already, splitting their past matches 4-4. Interestingly, while Wozniacki is known for her hard court prowess, Stosur leads their hard court play 3-1. If we were to look at their form since the start of the year, it would have to go to Wozniacki as she is good 5-3 on the year compared to Stosur's 3-4 record. That being said, it is fair to say that Stosur can start playing real tennis now that she is out of Australia where the pressure always causes her to perform dismally. The odd thing to consider is that, in their history, prior form has never played a role in determining the outcome of their match. In 2009, weeks after Wozniacki made her first grand slam final, Stosur defeated Wozniacki in Osaka. In 2012, when Wozniacki fell out of the top 10 and Stosur made the semi's of the French Open and the quarters of the U.S. Open, Wozniacki defeated Stosur in Moscow. Switch roles again in 2014 and Wozniacki makes another U.S. Open final while Stosur's play begins to slump and Stosur defeats Wozniacki weeks after the U.S. Open in Beijing. The only real pattern is that since Stosur's win during their first meeting, they have switched winner every other match as if alternating serve in a tie break. With that as my logic Stosur was the last to win, so if the pattern continues it is her time to win again.
Prediction: Stosur in three sets
Petra Kvitova [2] v. Elina Svitolina
Again we have a match up with a tied heat-to-heat at 1 all. Additionally, both players have had great starts to the year with Kvitova going 9-2 and Svitolina going 6-3. While Kvitova's losses have come at the hands of inspired opponents in Madison Keys and Timea Bacsinsky, Svitolina has only lost to top 10 opponents in Makarova, Sharapova, and Serena Williams and already has a top 10 win under her belt for the year having defeated Angelique Kerber in Brisbane. Historically in Dubai, Kvitova has a tendency of either falling in the first round or going all the way to the win. Having such a challenging opponent in the first round could be a bad sign for her; however, looking at the consistency of her results over the last 6 months I think it is clear that Kvitova is trying to be consistent and perhaps add a plan B to her game.
Prediction: Kvitova in three sets [because she's earned the name p3tra for a reason]
Popcorn Match:
Angelique Kerber [7] v. Svetlana Kuznetsova
It is always an entertaining match when these two players meet. Kuznetsova leads their head-to-head 3-2; however one of those matches was way back at the beginning of 2010 when Kerber was ranked outside of the top 100. While Kerber's play has been sub-par as of late and her recent results have seen her drop out of the top 10, her record on the year is still a healthy 6-4; especially when compared to Kuznetsova's dismal 2-3 record, which includes her win by retirement over Kanepi in the last round. That being said, Kuznetsova's singular win this year was an impressive top 10 win over Agnieszka Radwanska during the fed cup. Kerber has the ability to move Kuznetsova around and I think, after two first round losses Kerber will come out firing but neither opponent will be one to give this to their opponent.
Prediction: Kerber in three sets
Other Predictions:
Ivanovic [4] defeats Lisicki in straights -[Lisicki's only win against Ivanovic has come at Wimbledon]
Halep [1] defeats Hantuchova in three sets
Muguruza defeats Jankovic [12] in straight sets
Petkovic [9] defeats Diyas in three sets [unless the match is over 2 hours it doesn't count for Petko]
Pennetta [10] defeats Wang in three sets
Safarova [11] defeats Dellacqua in straight sets
Makarova [6] defeats Kozlova in straight sets
Cornet [15] defeats Buyukakcay in straight sets
Peng [16] defeats Pironkova in straight sets
Giorgi defeats Suarez Navarro [13] in three sets - [even though Suarez Navarro defeated Giorgi it was close and I am not sure that Suarez Navarro is back to 100% yet]
Zahlavova Strycova defeats Pliskova [17] in three sets - [I am not sure why I am picking this outcome other than as compatriots I think that they will have a different dynamic and really know each others games in a way that will benefit Zahlavova Strycova]
Enjoy what should be an entertaining day!
- Kevin
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