Australian Open 2014: Experts' picks for the women's draw

Can anyone stop Serena Williams? The tennis experts of Sportskeeda look ahead at the 2014 Australian Open by making picks for the women’s draw in four categories: dark horse, early exit, dangerous floater, and champion.

1. Dark horse

Simona Halep

Abhishek Desikan: Ana Ivanovic has a new team and a title under her belt after a gap of more than two years. Expect Ana to stir trouble for her opponents.

Adnan Akhtar: Simona Halep has slowly climbed up the rankings over the last year and would be my pick for the dark horse at this year’s Aussie Open. With six titles in 2013, Halep has shown that she has it in her to win. The Rod Laver Arena could be that big stage where she could finally make a mark for herself on the elite stage.

Avantika Tikmany: Local favourite Samantha Stosur awaits her maiden Australian Open title. The home advantage could, for once, work in her favour if she brings her A-game.

BallnRacquet: Working her way slowly up the rankings ladder to where she once belonged is Jelena Jankovic. She showed her hunger with very consistent results last season and fittingly ended the season as a semifinalist at the WTA Championships last October. She has been given a considerably good draw up until the quarters where she is slated to meet the resurgent Russian Maria Sharapova.

Musab Abid: Is it time we gave up on Petra Kvitova? She is seeded sixth, but her chronic inconsistencies have meant that she is nowhere even close to the conversation when it comes to talk about title favourites. Her draw up to the quarters seems fairly harmless though, and she has shown in the past that she can go deep here. Besides, her lethal-when-it’s-on game can never be discounted.

Roh: Last year’s semi-finalist Sloane Stephens is primed to go deep into the draw again, and is my dark horse pick.

Varun Jog: Simona Halep won six titles in 2013, second only to Serena Williams, and had her best ever performance at the US Open last year where she reached the fourth round. A fourth-round berth is almost a guarantee with the cushy draw that the Romanian finds herself presented with, and once she gets there we’ll have a potential clash between her and former World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic. Who knows what could happen?

2. Early exit

Sara Errani

Abhishek Desikan: Caroline Wozniacki has been inconsistent and has been dealing with injury problems as well. Neither of which helps in the lead-up to a Grand Slam.

Adnan Akhtar: With the unpredictability of the women’s game, it was difficult to decide the player who would be knocked out early. In the end, I would go with Samatha Stosur for being that unlucky player. I think that the expectations from a vociferous home crowd coupled with a tricky draw would result in an early ouster for her from the tournament.

Avantika Tikmany: Having drawn Russian Ekaterina Makarova in Round 1, and having struggled through a consistent dip in form over the past few years, we could see Venus Williams exiting as early as the first round itself.

BallnRacquet: Sara Errani seems to have lost that fire which propelled her into the top 8 in the world. With two early losses this year, she is not in the best form to take on the rest of the elite players. Also likely to face a similar early exit will be home favourite Samantha Stosur who has regularly failed to perform well at Melbourne.

Musab Abid: Sara Errani is slated to meet Serena Williams in the quarters, but there are red flags even before that: her first round opponent is the sometimes-dangerous Julia Goerges, and Eugenie Bouchard will likely be waiting in the third round. Errani has been punching above her weight at the Slams lately, but I wouldn’t bet on it here.

Roh: Samantha Stosur went winless in the Hopman Cup in all her singles matches. Though she redeemed herself slightly in Sydney, the former USO singles champion has never been at her best in Australia. This fact makes her the player to watch out for as far as early upsets and exits are concerned.

Varun Jog: It’s been sad to watch Petra Kvitova’s decline after she had such an amazing year back in 2011. Be it distractions in her personal life or flaws with her game, she has just not been able to play like she did that year, when she also captured her only Grand Slam singles crown till date. The start to 2014 hasn’t been very good either, as she suffered a shock defeat to a qualifier in the semifinals at Sydney. I don’t know who in her draw could beat her, but given her present form, anyone could, really. Kvitova for the early plane home for me.

3. Dangerous floater

Venus Williams

Abhishek Desikan: The young Romanian Sorana Cirstea was a quarterfinalist at Roland Garros and has reached the final of the Rogers Cup in the past. She could do some damage at the Open this year.

Adnan Akhtar: With a title in Sydney making her the first qualifier to win a Premier title since 2010, Tsvetana Pironkova would be my choice for the dangerous floater. Having already reached a Grand Slam semifinal in 2010, the Bulgarian knows how to counter opponents on the big stage and would be a tricky opponent for any player.

Avantika Tikmany: Having been anointed the ‘Emerging Player of the Year’ on the women’s circuit, Eugenie Bouchard could prove dangerous, even if she faces Sara Errani in the third round, as is likely.

BallnRacquet: Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova has been a Slam semifinalist earlier but not at the Australian Open. This is a different turf. She displayed some good tennis as she progressed from the qualifying draw to clinch her first ever WTA title at the the Australian Open warm-up event in Sydney. This time around, she is entering the draw with high chances of causing an upset or two.

Musab Abid: Remember Vera Zvonareva? The Russian is making a comeback to the tour after almost a year and a half, and while she is bound to be rusty, her section of the draw is not the most loaded. I wouldn’t be surprised if she knocked out a seed or two on her way to the fourth round (or beyond).

Roh: Seven-time Major winner Venus Williams finds herself unseeded for this year’s Australian Open. She’s had a strong start to the season, making the run-up to the finals in the ASB Classic at Auckland. The former Australian Open finalist could cause an upset or two, and is as dangerous a floater as a dangerous floater can possibly be.

Varun Jog: Venus Williams may not have had quite the same level of success as her younger sister but write her off at your own peril. She reached the final last week in Auckland and in what could be her last Australian Open, will be motivated to put in a strong performance at a venue where she hasn’t had her best results.

4. Champion

Serena Williams

Abhishek Desikan: The top seed Serena Williams is head and shoulders above her competition, and is in prime position to claim her 6th Australian Open crown this year.

Adnan Akhtar: For the past year, whenever I have had to decide a women’s favourite at a Grand Slam, I have been stuck at just one name: Serena Williams. With the type of form she is in, it would only require another Serena Williams to topple her.

Avantika Tikmany: World No. 1 Serena Williams is the clear, undisputed choice. Not many questions or doubts can be raised here.

BallnRacquet: One might argue that Serena Williams is ageing or that she would have to run out of fire eventually. But that is not happening right now. She is well poised to be crowned the champion in Melbourne yet again. A loss to Sharapova or Azarenka is not expected, though another Lisciki or Stephens episode cannot be discounted, however remote the chance of that happening might be.

Musab Abid: I want to say a name other than Serena Williams, I really do. Not because I have anything against the all-conquering American, but because it is simply far too mainstream to pick her as the favourite for every Slam. But what other choice do we have?

Roh: Serena Williams won her first title in the new season at Brisbane, without dropping a set. She’s in scintillating form and as such is the unequivocal favourite to win Australian Open this year.

Varun Jog: I typed ‘Sere’ and then furiously hit the backspace key. Perhaps this is the best indicator of the dominance Serena has had on the game in recent times – her name is naturally associated with the word ‘champion’. But I shall be bold and pick Victoria Azarenka for a hat-trick of titles. If there is anyone who has come remotely close to giving a fight to Serena, it is Azarenka, who has narrowly lost the past two US Open finals to the American. Azarenka can be mentally suspect, but knows how to win here, and will do it again, perhaps beating Serena in the final.