WTA Championships Day 2: Preview

World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, 3 times Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova and reigning US Open champion Samantha Stosur highlight the schedule on day 2 of the WTA Championships. After finally managing to beat Sharapova in her 10th meeting, Stosur will start the proceedings against another of her nemesis-Victoria Azarenka,who is fresh off a title at Luxembourg. This will be followed by an outing for Sharapova, who had a shock loss for the first time in 10 meetings to Stosur , and will look to turn the tables against reigning French Open champion Li Na of China.The last match of the day will feature World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki taking on Russia’s Vera Zvonareva.

1. (3)Victoria Azarenka(BLR) vs (7)Samantha Stosur(AUS)

Head to Head-Azarenka leads 3-0

Stosur will be looking forward to put an end to her losses against Azarenka today.

When the draw came out and as Stosur was placed along with Azarenka and Sharapova ,the players against whom she was a combined 0-12,no one gave Stosur a chance to make the semifinals. But in her first match she proved everyone wrong defeating a rusty Maria Sharapova in straight sets.Now she has another uphill task against an in-form Victoria Azarenka. The courts are acting a bit slow,which may favor Stosur,but unlike Sharapova, Azarenka has a great movement due to which it may hardly effect her. Stosur can make an effective use of her powerful serves and slices, but Azarenka is a great returner and should not be deeply troubled by them. As it seems, eventhough Stosur seems more confident in herself than ever, Azarenka should get through this one in 3 because of her big ground strokes which often pose a problem for Sam.

Prediction : Azarenka in 3 sets.

2. (2)Maria Sharapova(RUS) vs (5)Na Li(CHN)

Head to Head- Sharapova leads 5-3

Can a rusty Maria Sharapova bounce back?

Sharapova came into Istanbul with hardly any matches under her belt due to an injured ankle.With no real match play, a rusty Sharapova went down easily to someone she had never lost to before. On the other hand, Li Na has been completely out of form since winning her first slam this year in Paris. She is yet to win 3 continuous matches at a tournament since the French Open(Her only 2 continuous wins at a tournament were at New Haven) and losses to players like Monica Niculescu(Beijing), Simona Halep (US Open) and Petra Cetkovska(New Haven) have put a big question mark on her form coming into the year-ending Championships. Yet,she has beaten Sharapova in all of their last 3 meetings although none of them were on hard courts.(Sharapova is 3-0 H2H on hard).Even though Sharapova was rusty against Stosur,she seemed to get some of the form back as the match progressed and given her record at the Championships, the Russian should be the favorite going into the match. Both players will be making a lot of errors ,but Sharapova should prevail in 3 tough sets.

Prediction: Sharapova in 3 sets.

3. (1)Caroline Wozniacki(DEN) vs (6) Vera Zvonareva(RUS)

Head to Head-4-4

Wozniacki will be heading in as the favorite against Zvonareva

After surviving a marathon match last night, Wozniacki will be looking to almost confirm her place in the Semis and take a step closer to confirm her authority as the tear end number one. Zvonareva on the other hand, hasn’t been having impressive results lately,including the most recent one sided loss against rising star Petra Kvitova yesterday in her first match. As the H2H indicates, Zvonareva certainly has the play to defeat Wozniacki, not only does she hit the ball hard but can move well, volley well and mix things up which can trouble Wozniacki. Despite this, Wozniacki should win this one considering how Zvonareva hasn’t been playing her best tennis lately.

Prediction : Wozniacki in 3 sets.