Baku day 3: Return of form for younger Radwanska?

Schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/2184/title/baku-cup

Match focus:

Misa Eguchi vs. Urzsula Radwanska

Who is Misa Eguchi and how did Rybarikova lose to her? Since nobody really watched the match, we can only imagine it was due to Magdalena's non-existent form this year. Well, at least she will always find a way to beat Andrea Petkovic. Urszula must be relieved at facing a lower ranked player, having to retire in her last match against Rybarikova. If Urszula is injury-free, she should be able to cruise through this match.

Pick: Radwanska in 2 sets

Vesna Dolonc vs. Shahar Peer

Vesna Dolonc took half a year off to recover from her injury, and it will be a tough task to get into a winning groove immediately. She got lucky by drawing a local wildcard in her opening match, but against veteran Shahar Peer, she's not going to get it easy. Not saying that Dolonc cannot trouble her, but Peer will be more sharp having played in more tournaments. Nevertheless, Peer has been slumping for a while now, so an upset is also possible.

Pick: Peer in 3 sets

Jana Cepelova vs. Pauline Parmentier

Coming off a strong showing in Bastaad, Cepelova will fancy her chances against Parmentier. However, the surface now is hard courts, which will favour Pauline's heavier groundstrokes. Jana will need to cover a lot of court to draw the errors from the Frenchwoman. Pauline was impressive in her dismissal of Dulgheru, let's see if she can continue to surprise.

Pick: Parmentier in 3 sets

Oeiras day 1: Strong field for small event

Schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/292/title/portugal-open

Match focus:

Yanina Wickmayer vs. Urszula Radwanska

 

 

Urszula Radwanska is just in dire need of a win and she might get a chance here. Wickmayer is very shaky for the past couple of years and her form fluctuates wildly. Gone are the days where she's a consistent top 30 player. Radwanska needs to be her normal scrappy self and frustrate the Belgian on the slow clay. If she succeeds, she might get her first win on the main tour this year. Still, I feel that Yanina will edge out the Pole in 3 tight sets.

 

Pick: Wickmayer in 3 sets

 

Bojana Jovanovski vs. Monica Puig

 

Jovanovski's form has been abysmal recently, so it will be a good opportunity for the young Puig to win here. Still, Monica is turning into a headcase as she wasted her best chance to reach her maiden semi-finals in Monterrey. Looks like all Bojana needs to do is to irritate the youngster. I am not hoping for much from Puig, just hopes that she makes this competitive. Maybe her success came too soon and she's not ready for it.

Pick: Jovanovski in 3 sets

Yaroslava Shvedova vs. Karin Knapp

Karin Knapp is on a 5 match losing streak and I don't see her ending it here. Yaroslava is a streaky player, and she has notched up a few wins recently. At this rate, she's going to beat the Italian and carry on her good form. Not sure what's happened to Karin but I guess the close loss to Sharapova stung for a long time. She needs to refocus and not dwell on the past. Because her favourite part of the season is here and she needs to be ready for it.

Pick: Shvedova in 2 sets



Charleston, Monterrey day 2: Williams sisters in action

Charleston schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/738/title/family-circle-cup

Monterrey schedule of play:

Not updated yet

Match focus:

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova vs. Venus Williams

Venus did well here last year, and will be looking forward to continue her good form in recent months. She will face the feisty Strycova, whose on-court antics are more famous than her game. Given how cool and collected Venus is, it is highly unlikely that she will be distracted by the Czech. If Venus stays healthy, she will be able to sweep pass Barbora with little difficulty.

Pick: Venus in 2 sets

Serena Williams vs. Jana Cepelova

Serena will be tired after her exploits in Miami. However, she gets a soft opponent against Cepelova in her opening match. Cepelova doesn't have the game to trouble Serena, and I don't expect Serena to struggle in anyway. She may take a few games to get used to the clay, but it'll be cruise control afterwards.

Pick: Serena in 2 sets

Caroline Garcia vs. Peng Shuai

Caroline Garcia is playing some of her best tennis in recent months, and looks good to fulfil the expectations layed on her initially. Peng is no pushover though, as she was narrowly close to defeating Kerber in Miami. This will be a good match but I believe Garcia will be the one with more confidence. Peng has the experience, but with doubles being her priority now, I'll go with the Frenchwoman.

Pick: Garcia in 3 sets

Coco Vandeweghe vs. Caroline Wozniacki

Coco Vandeweghe is coming off a great Miami, having upset Pavlyuchenkova and Stosur there. However, her game does not match well against Wozniacki's retrieving game as she will be prone to errors. Caroline relishes in taking down opponents who only know how to play with power. Unless Coco has a day where she just cannot miss, the Dane is going to win this match.

Pick: Wozniacki in 2 sets

Urszula Radwanska vs. Ana Ivanovic

Poor Urzsula just cannot catch a break. Ever since coming back from her injury layoff, she hasn't won a match, and doesn't seem to be breaking the trend here against the 2nd seed Ivanovic. Ana was humiliated by Kvitova in Miami, but she will be eager to improve on that performance. Frankly, Urzsula doesn't have any weapons that could hurt Ana anyway.

Pick: Ivanovic in 2 sets


Sure win bets: Luksika Kumkhum, Monica Puig, Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Elena Vesnina, Sorana Cirstea
Upset alert: Samantha Stosur, Marina Erakovic, Peng Shuai

Miami day 2: Bumper day of matches

Schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/837/title/sony-open-tennis

Match focus:

Christina McHale vs. Zheng Jie

This will be the pair's first meeting, which is quite a surprise given that these 2 have been on tour for a relatively long time. Only 3 ranking spots separate these 2, so it's difficult to say for sure who's the favourite. As of current form, I would give the edge to Christina. She reached the finals in Acapulco, and lost a tight match against an in form Dellacqua. Zheng was pretty bad in her match against Li, but hopefully she'll do better here. A close match should be in the cards, with the American winning.

Pick: McHale in 3 sets

Maria-Teresa Torro Flor vs. Andrea Petkovic

For a former top 10 player, Petkovic is really struggling to find her level again. She has been abysmal so far this year, losing to players she should be beating. She gets a soft draw here, with Torro-Flor winning only 2 matches so far this year. Granted that one of her wins was against Kerber, Torro-Flor had a good day and was immediately brought down to earth the next day. Petkovic just needs to get that extra ball back and make Torro-Flor rush. If the German loses this, it might spell big trouble.

Pick: Petkovic in 2 sets

Nadia Petrova vs. Urszula Radwanska

Nadia Petrova retired from her first round match in Indian Wells, which might indicate that she's not fully fit for this match. Pity because this is a winnable match for the Russian, as Radwanska is fresh in her comeback and is extremely rusty. If her body holds up, I believe Nadia has the game to take apart Urszula. However, with that worrying retirement, I don't believe she can get the job done.

Pick: Radwanska in 3 sets

Zheng Shuai vs. Lauren Davis

Zhang Shuai is nursing an injury, so Lauren will be the favourite here. Davis must be one of the most unlucky players on tour, having being stung by a wasp, and suffering from a stomach upset after her biggest win. One week should be enough for her to recover and take out the Chinese. Both players play a relatively same game, but Davis will be higher in confidence, and getting the home crowd support.

Pick: Davis in 2 sets

Peng Shuai vs. Karolina Pliskova

Peng's focus has been on doubles for a while now, so Pliskova has a chance here to topple the Chinese. Karolina is armed with a huge serve, but just needs to be more imaginative with her groundstrokes. Peng will need to defend her serve well and hope for a lapse of concentration from the Czech. With their recent form, I think Karolina will win this encounter, but Peng will definitely give a good fight.

Pick: Pliskova in 2 tight sets

Sure win bets: Madison Keys, Alison Riske, Mona Barthel, Karin Knapp, Yvonne Meusburger
Upset alert: Alexandra Cadantu, Marina Erakovic, Peng Shuai, Zheng Jie, Zhang Shuai

Indian Wells day 2: First round matches round up

Schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/543/title/bnp-paribas-open

Match focus:

Alisa Kleybanova vs. Victoria Duval

Only 3 players separate these 2 players in terms of ranking, but in terms of experience, Kleybanova has tons of them. The Russian is slowly picking up the pieces after her battle with cancer, and has already had a few wins on the main tour. Duval has been thriving in the ITF circuit and trying to play through qualifying. This is a good way to get into match rhythm and I think this will be a good fight. Alisa will have the crowd and experience behind her, while Duval will have the fearlessness of youth. I think Alisa needs this more, so I think the Russian will fight until the bitter end to cause a minor upset.

Pick: Kleybanova in 3 sets

Francesca Schiavone vs. Mona Barthel

Both players have had very a very forgettable 2014 so far, but at least Mona has a few wins under her belt. Schiavone on the other hand drew tough opponents, or lost to players who she's supposed to beat. The Italian is still winless this year despite playing lower tier events in Brazil. This doesn't bode well for the former Grand Slam champion. Barthel is difficult to predict, but with Schiavone at an all time low confidence, I doubt the German will be losing to her.

Pick: Barthel in 2 sets

Urzsula Radwanska vs. Aleksandra Wozniak

Fresh off her injury timeout, Urzsula Radwanska hopes to get back into action against Aleksandra Wozniak. The Canadian is also an injury plagued player, whose career might have been different if she stayed healthy enough. Anyway, it's tough for the Pole to get straight back into match playing rhythm. Wozniak had Acapulco to prepare, so she has the advantage with more match play. Even though Radwanska is still ranked higher, I believe Wozniak will take this.

Pick: Wozniak in 3 sets

Monica Niculescu vs. Marina Erakovic

I cannot say that I'm a big fan of Niculescu's game. The Romanian's unorthodox and junky game does give players fits and confuses the ball bashing players. However, Monica is under an injury cloud as she retired in Florianopolis. I doubt she has recovered fully if it was serious enough to retire from title defense. Erakovic and Niculescu have met once before last year, with Monica edging Marina out in a third set tie break. On hard courts, I believe the aggressive Erakovic has the advantage here. She just needs to keep going for it and not be bothered by the weird balls the Romanian is sending her.

Pick: Erakovic in 2 sets

Elina Svitolina vs. Monica Puig

This might be the first time these 2 have met on the senior tour, but I am sure they have a long history in juniors. Just a few years ago, these 2 players were at the top of junior rankings and this will be a good match up to see who has improved the most. Svitolina currently has a title and couple of impressive wins so far, while Puig has the tendency to perform well in the Slams. Based on current form, Elina has the advantage with more wins under her belt. Puig has suffered from fluctuating form since late last year, and it would be a surprise if she snaps out of that.

Pick: Svitolina in 3 sets

Sure win bets: Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Ajla Tomljanovic, Karin Knapp

Upset alert: Alexandra Cadantu, Donna Vekic, Urzsula Radwanska

US Open day 3: Next seed to fall, Stephens?

Upset of the previous day:

Victoria Duval def. Samantha Stosur 5-7 6-4 6-4

Totally did not see this one coming. It's true that Sam recently had a coach change, but losing to Duval who has never won a main draw match is just mindboggling. The American played inspired tennis, but as a former champion and a veteran of the tour, she should be able to weather the storm. Just an overall disappointing match from the Aussie. Particularly shocking too as she had just won a title less than a month ago.

Schedule of play:

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/schedule/index.html?promo=subnav

Match focus:

Urszula Radwanska vs. Sloane Stephens

Stephens remains an enigma, challenging the top players while barely scrapping through the lower ranked ones. Against Minella, she was absolutely atrocious and only won because Minella couldn't handle the pressure. I hope she doesn't revert to that disgusting pushing play as it will not advance her career any further. Radwanska will be confident of her chances if Sloane continues her lacklastre play.

Pick: Radwanska in 3 sets

Venus Williams vs. Zheng Jie

Venus Williams was ruthless in her destruction of Flipkens, and takes her place as the 15th seed. She will face fiesty Chinese, Zheng Jie, who loves returning big serves. Venus will need to be careful with her service games and not get bothered by Zheng's aggressive returns. She herself needs to return Jie's weak serve well, or else it might be a wasted effort for her first round. If Venus is healthy, she shouldn't have any problems dispatching Zheng.

Pick: Williams in 2 sets

Eugenie Bouchard vs. Angelique Kerber

Kerber's form is in the pits and Bouchard has a very good chance of an upset here. The Canadian will need to attack Kerber's weak serve and be on the aggressive constantly. Kerber's confidence is shot, so she might not be the normal retrieving wall that she is. So, by taking initiative, Eugenie can oust the German and mark her first win over a top 10 player.

Pick: Bouchard in 3 sets

Jelena Jankovic vs. Alisa Kleybanova

Jelena did a good job of taking out promising Keys, and will now face the inspirational Kleybanova. Obviously, it will be a tough task for Alisa to take out a top 10 seed as of now, but I'm sure she will just play with no pressure and swing freely. Any match for her is a bonus. Jankovic needs to be prepared to weather the storm as Kleybanova can hit a mean ball.

Pick: Jankovic in 2 sets

Ashleigh Barty vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Barty finally wins a main draw match as she tries to justify yet another wildcard awarded to her. I was initially impressed by how calm the youngster was, but she was almost too emotionless on court, like she didn't care. I guess she was thrown into the limelight a little too soon and found herself out of her depth. Pavlyuchenkova seems to be back on track, having subdued Razzano. She shouldn't have any problems beating the young Aussie.

Pick: Pavlyuchenkova in 2 sets

Sure win bets: Li Na, Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Jelena Jankovic, Sabine Lisicki
Upset alerts: Sorana Cirstea, Angelique Kerber, Sloane Stephens, Ekaterina Makarova, Jamie Hampton