Rome qualifiers placed

The qualifiers have been placed in the main draw! Qualifiers to me are the most dangerous floaters around in a draw. They have played 2 to 3 matches on the surface and have already gotten used to the surface more than the main draw players. Some interesting match-ups in the first round here.

Anna Chakvetadze vs Sloane Stephens

Due to various personal and health reasons, the former top 5 Russian player has plunged to her current ranking of 367. This feisty little girl hasn't given up hope yet and is starting all the way from the qualifiers to get back to where she was. Chakvetadze has a pleasing and effortless game which is a change from all the senseless ball-bashing everyone is playing now. Her angled shots sometimes defy logic and gives her opponents major headaches.

To be honest, I haven't seen much of Sloane Stephens play. But judging from her results, she's still a little bit inconsistent and her best surface is definitely not on clay. This match will depend on which Anna turns up. The rusty Anna or the rejuvenized Anna.

Pick: Chakvetadze in straights.

Mirjana Lucic vs Dominika Cibulkova

Another former teen prodigy comes back. Mirjana Lucic was dubbed as the future of tennis as she bludgeoned her way to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the late 90s. However, stories of her abusive father arose and she took a break from tennis and from her father (thank goodness). She's back for a few years now and has been languishing in the 100s for a while now. Just married, I hope she has found her balance in life and be able to perform her best on the tennis court.

Dominika Cibulkova has not been having a great year so far. I expected her to breakthrough after finally clinching her first title last year in Moscow. But she never did and has suffered freak losses to lower ranked players. Her Acheilles heel will always be her serve. It remains to be seen if Lucic will take advantage of the weak delivery and boss Cibulkova around the court.

Pick: Cibulkova in 3 tight sets