WTA Madrid: Preview & Predictions

WTA Madrid: Will Serena continue her winning streak?

The 2015 Mutua Madrid Open main draw gets underway tomorrow on the red clay in the Spanish capital. The event is the 3rd Premier Mandatory tournament of the year, meaning that if you are ranked highly enough, YOU HAVE TO PLAY! The field is jam packed, with all the top 10 in attendance and though the majority of players have already competed on the clay by now, there are still a few notable players who haven’t! Here is a preview of the draw and my predictions as to who will reach the semis!

(Seed)

Top Half: (1) Serena Williams vs (11) Andrea Petkovic

(1) Serena Williams is as big a favourite as ever, considering she’s on a 23 match winning streak and hasn’t lost a match in Madrid since 2010! The most exciting match of the 1st round is between 2 former finalists, (16) Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka, who have both yet to compete on clay this spring! The winner of this match will likely face Serena in the 3rd round and give her a real workout. I suspect (10) Carla Suarez Navarro will reach yet another quarter final, considering (7) Ana Ivanovic has lost all confidence recently and will most likely lose early again. Considering Serena’s crushing record against Carla, I predict she’ll reach the semis!

(4) Petra Kvitova will look to rekindle her passion for the game, though the 2011 champion went out early in Stuttgart and could well suffer an early exit here too. (15) Sara Errani is very comfortable on the clay and has already performed well on the surface this year. I expect her to lose out to (11) Andrea Petkovic in the quarters, who should struggle past Flavia Pennetta in the 1st round. Even if she were to face the terribly out of form (6) Eugenie Bouchard in the 3rd round, I’d favour the German to win!

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Bottom Half: (5) Caroline Wozniacki vs (2) Simona Halep

(5) Caroline Wozniacki was very impressive in Stuttgart and I expect her to be too good for anyone else in her section, including (9) Agnieszka Radwanska, who she could meet in the 3rd round. The reigning champion, (3) Maria Sharapova has had an unexpected lapse lately and couldn’t ask for a much tougher opening match against in-form Timea Bacsinszky. Even if she can break her losing run in that match, she could well have her hands full against (14) Karolina Pliskova, who will contest the Prague final tomorrow or Caroline Garcia in the 3rd round. I predict Wozniacki will out steady anyone of these named players.

(2) Simona Halep feels a special affinity with this tournament, considering Ion Tiriac, the tournament owner, is also Romanian and strongly supports her. She came within a set of winning the title last year and based on her form this year, I expect she’ll be too strong for her opposition in the early rounds. In the quarters, she might well face (12) Angelique Kerber, who is on an unbeaten, 11 match clay court streak, which saw her win both Charleston and Stuttgart. However, if she’s to make it 12 in a row, she’ll have to beat the former French Open finalist, Sam Stosur in the 1st round. She could then face Madison Keys, who pushed her to 75 in the 3rd set in Charleston and perhaps Svetlana Kuznetsova, who I think may beat (8) Ekaterina Makarova in the 1st round. Even if Kerber can overcome these hurdles, I expect Halep will be a step too far!

Next: French Open Contenders: Andy Murray has a chance

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