Australian Open Women’s Draw: Serena looks to thwart Azarenka three-peat

It’s finally that time of the year when happiness pervades through the tennis community. After a few weeks of lull, tennis has arrived Down Under and the players and fans are equally looking forward to the year’s first Grand Slam in sun-bathed Melbourne.

Unlike the men’s draw which is top-heavy, the women’s draw is more balanced which should bring a smile to the biggest contenders at the Happy Slam. Victoria Azarenka is the two-time defending champion and she has a splendid opportunity to emulate Martina Hingis’s three-peat at Melbourne Park.

But Serena Williams perhaps would have a thing or two to say about that. She has been the most dominant force in the WTA for a year and a half and certainly after her most successful season last year, she would love to bring her rich vein of form to the sunny courts in Melbourne too. Is there really anybody formidable enough to counter her challenge? Let’s have a look at the women’s draw and find out:

First quarter

Serena Williams

This is headed by none other than the World No. 1 Serena Williams who looks to be the unanimous favourite. She heads into the year’s first Slam on the back of a 22-match winning streak. Unbeaten since Cincinnati, she started 2014 in the same fashion, quelling challenges from her biggest rivals, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, with panache.

The next highest seed in this part of the draw is Sara Errani, a name Serena would relish hearing. For Errani, Serena is a name she would want to avoid after getting annihilated at Roland Garros last year. But there’s a host of fledgling talent looking to produce upsets – Laura Robson (edit: who’s been eliminated already), Eugenie Bouchard, Madison Keys and Annika Beck.

Also, there’s Ana Ivanovic, who impressed with her recent resurgence at Auckland. But she needs to be wary of Tsvetana Pironkova who has just won her first title at Sydney. Pironkova might be coming in with oodles of confidence and eagerness to strike out blows at a Major other than Wimbledon, which can spell doom for another seed – Samantha Stosur. The Aussie, who’s always a bundle of nerves at home, has her task cut out with her opener being against Klara Zakopalova – the very player who did her in at Hobart. If she does exact revenge, there awaits the in-form Bulgarian in the second round – Pironkova.

Semifinalist: Serena Williams

Potential upsets: Tsvetana Pironkova beats Samantha Stosur (second round), Madison Keys beats Roberta Vinci (second round), Eugenie Bouchard beats Sara Errani (third round).

Second quarter

This is the most loaded quarter, stacked with Grand Slam champions, talented youngsters and even the oldest player in the draw. Li Na heads this section of the draw of a Slam where she has always thrilled fans and produced brilliant performances. Twice she has been to the final here; after her most consistent season where she leapt to World No. 3 in the rankings, can she finally produce the spark that will help her break the Aussie Open deadlock?

There are a handful of women who would like to douse the fire in Li though. Petra Kvitova, for one, is a player to be cautious of. She can blow hot and cold but on her best days she can unleash the deadly forehand that gives nightmares to her opponents. The two Germans, Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki, can also upset the apple-cart. Kerber is the more consistent of the two and Lisicki is yet to exhibit the form at a Slam that will match her Wimbledon feats. But with Martina Hingis on her side, she might have a surprise up in her sleeve.

A couple of reigning junior Grand Slam champions, Ana Konjuh and Belinda Bencic, have been making the buzz for quite sometime now. While Konjuh faces Li, Bencic faces a player who’s an astonishing 27 years older than her – Kimiko Date-Krumm. That should offer two fascinating cross-generational matches.

Semi-finalist: Petra Kvitova

Matches to watch: This quarter has some enthralling matches to watch - Ekaterina Makarova v Venus Williams (first round – edit: Makarova has defeated Venus today), Ekaterina Makarova v Sabine Lisicki (third round), Petra Kvitova v Angelique Kerber (fourth round).

Third Quarter

Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova, the highest seed in this quarter, has a tricky opener against Bethanie Mattek-Sands. But second round onwards, things look a little easier for her to deal with until she comes against the stumbling block called Jelena Jankovic in the quarter-finals.

Perhaps this is exactly the kind of draw Sharapova needed after her injury-induced hiatus. She had a semi-final showing in her first tournament since the injury at Brisbane and Sharapova would like to take it one match at a time for now. By the time she faces Jankovic after piercing into the challenges of Alize Cornet, Dominika Cibulkova or Carla Suarez Navarro, the Russian would have gained enough momentum and confidence to really fight it out with the Serb.

There’s Simona Halep as well in this quarter, the Romanian who sizzled last season and captured six titles. But her performance at Sydney left a lot to be desired and Jankovic would surely like to ensure that the Romanian doesn’t give her too much trouble.

Semi-finalist: Maria Sharapova

Matches to watch: Maria Sharapova v Bethanie Mattek-Sands (first round), Jelena Jankovic v Andrea Petkovic (third round).

Fourth quarter

Here there’s Victoria Azarenka, the highest seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, Vika’s potential quarter-final opponent and a host of talented players who can change the course of the draw.

Azarenka showed that she has rebounded very well from her listless displays towards the end of last year by reaching the Brisbane final. The Belarusian is once again energetic and has a pretty straight-forward draw till the fourth round where she can potentially meet Sloane Stephens, which will be an encore of their 2013 semi-final match. Can Sloane herself match up to her impressive Grand Slam showings of 2013? That will be something everybody will be eagerly looking forward to.

Radwanska, on the other hand has to deal with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a player who really gave her a run for her money at the US Open and Seoul last year. Fireworks might be on if they cross swords again.

There are two other players who deserve mention – the newly-engaged Caroline Wozniacki and the new Hobart winner, Garbine Muguruza. Will the engagement and a new coach bring about a change in fortunes for the Dane? As for Muguruza, she came back from a six-month surgery-induced layoff and scythed through the draw in just her second tournament to emerge victorious at Hobart. The 20-year-old is a future WTA star and has the right tools to make it far. She will be one to watch out for at Melbourne.

Semi-finalist: Victoria Azarenka

Potential upsets: Garbine Muguruza beats Kaia Kanepi (first round), Garbine Muguruza beats Caroline Wozniacki (third round).

Semifinals: Serena Williams beats Petra Kvitova; Victoria Azarenka beats Maria Sharapova

Final: Serena Williams beats Victoria Azarenka.