The first Grand Slam of the year begins in Australia on Monday, January 19. In my part of the world it starts Sunday January 18. What does it mean that I'm looking forward to sleep deprivation? It means I'm a tennis fan. The warm up tournaments help ease you into living backwards but you can pick and choose what you watch of those. It's weird how we went from no tennis to so much tennis you didn't know who to watch play where.
via sportinglife.com
I'm not sure why Auckland isn't a combined event but it was great seeing the fans turn out in droves for women's tennis. I haven't watched much of the mens tournament there because Sydney was taking place. The biggest problem with Auckland is it's lack of Hawkeye. The organizers say it's too expensive at $100,000 per court. I mean it's nice watching an exho with no Hawkeye but the speed at which the modern game is played demands another set of "eyes" so to speak in case there is a dispute.
The women's final at Sydney was a match I wanted to see. It featured Katerina Pliskova vs Petra Kvitova. I'd been hearing a lot about Katerina on fan sites but most of it involved the usual objectivication of blonde women tennis players. She made the final though and I figured Petra wanted a win so the match would be interesting if not great.
I came away wondering why this young woman Pliskova isn't getting a lot of publicity that didn't involve fanboy fantasies. She's tall but not gangly, fit, and plays an aggressive easy to watch game. If it wasn't for the fanboys I would have no idea she exists. She gave her countrywoman a run for her money losing the match in two tiebreak sets. Barring injury I think she's going to be a star on the court.
Then there was Venus Williams performance in the WTA tournament in Auckland. I was glad to see David Witt working with her and she went out of her way to make sure she praised him and her team for putting up with her through thick and thin. It was great to see her play the way she used to.
But starting Sunday(Monday) everyone will have to play their way through a Grand Slam draw. I'm sure everyone has seen it by now but here it is again.
Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL)
Vera Zvonareva (RUS) vs Unknown
WC Olivia Rogowska (AUS) vs Nicole Gibbs (USA)
Jana Cepelova (SVK) vs Elina Svitolina (UKR) [26]
Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) [24] vs Marina Erakovic (NZL)
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) vs Saisai Zheng (CHN)
Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) vs Unknown
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) vs Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [15]
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) [11] vs Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) vs Heather Watson (GBR)
Romina Oprandi (SUI) vs Unknown
Shuai Zhang (CHN) vs Alizé Cornet (FRA) [19]
B.Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) [25] vs Timea Babos (HUN)
Jie Zheng (CHN) vs WC Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)
Sloane Stephens (USA) vs Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
Taylor Townsend (USA) vs Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [8]
Petra Kvitova (CZE) [4] vs Unknown
Donna Vekic (CRO) vs Mona Barthel (GER)
Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) vs Madison Keys (USA)
Yvonne Meusburger (AUT) vs Casey Dellacqua (AUS) [29]
Samantha Stosur (AUS) [20] vs Monica Niculescu (ROU)
Francesca Schiavone (ITA) vs Coco Vandeweghe (USA)
WC Irina Falconi (USA) vs Kaia Kanepi (EST)
Madison Brengle (USA) vs Andrea Petkovic (GER) [13]
Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [12] vs Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Tereza Smitkova (CZE) vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO)
Lauren Davis (USA) vs Aleksandra Krunic (SRB)
M. Toro-Flor (ESP) vs Venus Williams (USA) [18]
Varvara Lepchenko (USA) [30] vs Vitalia Diatchenko (RUS)
Shelby Rogers (USA) vs Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS)
Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) vs Johanna Larsson (SWE)
Kurumi Nara (JPN) vs Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [6]
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [5] vs Qualifier
Polona Hercog (SLO) vs Qiang Wang (CHN)
WC Storm Sanders (AUS) vs Klara Koukalova (CZE)
Julia Goerges (GER) vs Belinda Bencic (SUI) [32]
Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [22] vs Qualifier
Alison Riske (USA) vs WC Oceane Dodin (FRA)
Roberta Vinci (ITA) vs Bojana Jovanovski (SRB)
An-Sophie Mestach (BEL) vs Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) [10]
Sara Errani (ITA) [14] vs Grace Min (USA)
S.Soler-Espinosa (ESP) vs Annika Beck (GER)
Qualifier vs Lara Arruabarrena (ESP)
Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) vs A.Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) [23]
Sabine Lisicki (GER) [28] vs Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
WC Ying-Ying Duan (CHN) vs Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) vs Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)
Karin Knapp (ITA) vs Simona Halep (ROU) [3]
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) [7] vs Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER)
Kiki Bertens (NED) vs WC Daria Gavrilova (AUS)
Stefanie Voegele (SUI) vs Pauline Parmentier (FRA)
Caroline Garcia (FRA) vs Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [27]
C.Suarez Navarro (ESP) [17] vs Carina Witthoeft (GER)
Qualifier vs Christina McHale (USA)
Elena Vesnina (RUS) vs Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) vs Angelique Kerber (GER) [9]
Lucie Safarova (CZE) [16] vs Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)
Monica Puig (PUR) vs WC Arina Rodionova (AUS)
Ana Konjuh (CRO) vs Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)
Qualifier vs Shuai Peng (CHN) [21]
Zarina Diyas (KAZ) [31] vs Qualifier
Anna Schmiedlova (SVK) vs Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)
Qualifier vs Sorana Cirstea (ROU)
Qualifier vs Maria Sharapova (RUS) [2]
Are there cakewalks? Damn straight there are cakewalks. Maria Sharapova has to feel good about her section. The biggest threat appears to be Lucia Safarova who played well in the run up events she participated in. Ana Konjuh who had a lot of buzz around her played horribly in her warm up. But that was then and this is now. Of course anything can happen but I think the match up people want, Eugenie Bouchard vs Maria Sharapova, is a good possibility. There is always a chance that the Svetlana Kuznetsova who knows how to play tennis shows up and upsets the apple cart. I said there's a chance of that happening not that it will happen.
The match I'm looking forward to is Sloane Stephens vs Victoria Azarenka. Vika, who has been open about the year she went through on and off the court in 2014 is going to be looking for a win. Sloane fancies herself a slayer of top players and usually shows up for those matches. The other intriguing match in that section is Taylor Townsend vs Caroline Wozniacki. Some feel this will be Wozniacki's chance to win a Slam. She's really playing a game that's exciting to watch right now knowing how to be aggressive and when. I liked what I saw of Taylor in Australia but when the pressure went up she went to pieces mentally. Wozniacki is going to bring the pressure.
Dominika Cibulkova has not been playing well lately and Heather Watson, who last year couldn't think her way out of a paper bag let alone construct a point is playing a final this evening. The other player I have my eye on on Madison Keys. I still think she has the most potential of the young American women but she has to get over a pattern she's developing of getting a good win and then being unprepared for her next match.
Katerina Pliskova has another one of those nice little sections hidden in the draw. She starts out with a Qualifier and is seeded to face Ekaterina Makarova, a newly minted top ten player. She's in the top half of the bottom of the draw and if she gets through her section she could face Ana Ivanovic whose toughest challenge would be Belinda Bencic Also lurking in that part of the draw is Simona Halep who has another nice section.
Will the top seeds make it through with no problems? Who knows? There's a reason they play the matches.
Long time readers know I don't usually discuss the men's draw in depth and I'm not going to start now. The only thing I'll say is that anyone who blathers on about how tough a draw Roger Federer has deserves a swift kick.The biggest threat there is young Borna Ćorić.
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs Qualifier
Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)
Go Soeda (JPN) vs Qualifier
James Ward (GBR) vs Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [31]
John Isner (USA) [19] vs Qualifier
Qualifier vs Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)
Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) vs Gilles Muller (LUX)
Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [13]
Feliciano Lopez (ESP) [12] vs WC Denis Kudla (USA)
Blaz Rola (SLO) vs Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) vs Jerzy Janowicz (POL)
WC Lucas Pouille (FRA) vs Gael Monfils (FRA) [17]
Julien Benneteau (FRA) [25] vs Benjamin Becker (GER)
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs WC Ze Zhang (CHN)
Donald Young (USA) vs Qualifier
Qualifier vs Milos Raonic (CAN) [8]
Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [4] vs Marsel Ilhan (TUR)
Qualifier vs Pablo Andujar (ESP)
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) vs Andrey Golubev (KAZ)
Qualifier vs Pablo Cuevas (URU) [27]
Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) [21 vs Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)
Sam Querrey (USA) vs Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs Peter Gojowczyk (GER)
Alejandro Gonzalez (COL) vs Fabio Fognini (ITA) [16]
David Ferrer (ESP) [9] vs Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) vs Dusan Lajovic (SRB)
Marcel Granollers (ESP) vs Stephane Robert (FRA)
Robin Haase (NED) vs Gilles Simon (FRA) [18]
Santiago Giraldo (COL) [30] vs Qualifier
Qualifier vs Steve Johnson (USA)
Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Joao Souza (BRA)
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) vs Kei Nishikori (JPN) [5]
Tomas Berdych (CZE) [7] vs Alejandro Falla (COL)
Qualifier vs Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM)
Jiri Vesely (CZE) vs Viktor Troicki (SRB)
WC John Millman (AUS) vs Leonardo Mayer (ARG) [26]
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [22] vs Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)
Tobias Kamke (GER) vs Bernard Tomic (AUS)
Sam Groth (AUS) vs Filip Krajinovic (SRB)
WC Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) vs Ernests Gulbis (LAT) [11]
Kevin Anderson (RSA) [14] vs Diego Schwartzman (ARG)
Ricardas Berankis (LTU) vs Igor Sijsling (NED)
Blaz Kavcic (SLO) vs WC James Duckworth (AUS)
Carlos Berlocq (ARG) vs Richard Gasquet (FRA) [24]
Lukas Rosol (CZE) [28] vs Kenny De Schepper (FRA)
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) vs Dudi Sela (ISR)
WC Luke Saville (AUS) vs Qualifier
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) vs Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3]
Andy Murray (GBR) [6] vs Qualifier
Qualifier vs Marinko Matosevic (AUS)
WC Jordan Thompson (AUS) vs Joao Sousa (POR)
Tatsuma Ito (JPN) vs Martin Klizan (SVK) [32]
David Goffin (BEL) [20] vs Qualifier
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) vs Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)
Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) vs Lukas Lacko (SVK)
Dustin Brown (GER) vs Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [10]
Tommy Robredo (ESP) [15] vs Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
Malek Jaziri (TUN) vs Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ)
Federico Delbonis (ARG) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
Qualifier vs Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [23]
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) [29] vs Borna Coric (CRO)
Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs Denis Istomin (UZB)
Juan Monaco (ARG) vs Simone Bolelli (ITA)
Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) vs Roger Federer (SUI) [2]
The one player who loves the heat and has done well here is Fernando Verdasco. No one expects much of him and looking at his recent results it's understandable. Like Sveta in the women's draw if he shows up to play he could upset a lot of peoples hopes and dreams. Again, I'm not saying he will. I'm just saying that he could.
If anyone sat through the interminable Live Draw yesterday I'm sure they got whiplash when Nick Bollettieri started talking up John Isner and his "super coach" Justin Gimelstob. I guess he's been working with Isner because he talked about him going to the net more and made it seem as if Isner is going to be a contender. Maybe I heard it wrong because by that time I was half asleep. Next time they should do what other Slams do and have the tropies, and the players, present and start the draw right away instead of going on and on about towns no one outside of Australia know anything about rallying behind top players. If they want to do that sort of thing do it before they go live. Trust me no one cares Tennis Australia.
Andy Murray does not have an easy section. Martin Klizan is on a mission. David Goffin wants to play big at a major. And lurking in that part of the draw is everyone's favorite Grigor Dimitrov who's looking to show that the hype isn't hype.
What do I think of the draws? It doesn't matter what I, or anyone thinks. It's the beginning of the year. Players are already taped and wrapped up. What matters is who plays well. Overall the draws are the best they can be at this time of the year. Some will always get cakewalks and some will always face a Murderer's Row.
I'm excited!
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