US Open 2015: Ladies singles round 1 preview

This year's fourth and last Grand Slam US Open is going to take place in the city of New York from August 31st to September 13th2015. This will be the 135th edition of the US Open and will be held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park of Queens in New York City.Marin Cilic will be out to defend his 2014 US Open Men's singles title whereas Serena Williams will be looking to equal Steffi Graf’s record of 22 career Grand Slams and her 4th consecutive US Open Ladies single title, and her 7th US Open overall.She will also complete her calendar Grand Slam after having won this year’s Australian Open, French Open and the Wimbledon ladies single titles and will be the first ladies player to do so since 1988.The US Open total prize money for 2015 was increased by 10.5 percent to a record $42,253,400, which potentially could reach almost 45 million dollars. The prize money for the singles title is to be around $3,300,000, both for ladies and gentlemen singles. Let us have a look at some of the important matches in the first round of the Ladies Singles:

#1 Serena Williams (1) vs Vitalia Diatchenko

World No. 1 Serena Williams will meet Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia, who is unseeded at the US Open

All eyes will be on the 21-time Grand Slam winner and 6-time US Open winner Serena Williams to open her account in style against the unseeded Russian Vitalia Diatchenko.

However, it may be a tricky start for the American as it will her first professional match against the Russian counterpart. The Russian may come as a surprise to the American and will be hopeful of a round 1 upset.

Serena on the other hand will be looking win her 4th US Open title in as many years and her 7th overall.

WTA Rankings

Serena Williams: 1 (12721 points)

Vitalia Diatchenko: 86 (680 points)

Prediction: Serena to go through the second round with a comfortable straight sets win

#2 Ana Ivanovic (7) vs Dominika Cibulkova

Ana Ivanovic (L) will play unseeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia

Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic will be looking to best her quarter-final outing in the 2012 US Open by going the distance in this year’s US Open against the unseeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.

The two has met on 4 occasions in the past and is still looking to gain an edge over the other as both of them had won on 2 occasions each. However, It is Ana who had the upper hand in the last two previous meetings between the two.

The Serbian has been out of form or injured too frequently in the last 3-4 years, so this is the best time for the Slovakian to do a round 1 upset on her opponent.

WTA Rankings

Ana Ivanovic: 7 (3500 points)

Dominika Cibulkova: 50 (1066 points)

Prediction: Ana Ivanovic to win the hardly fought contest in 3 sets.

#3 Petra Kvitova (5) vs Laura Siegemund

Petra Kvitova (L) plays German Laura Siegemund, who is unseeded

The 2-time Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova will be looking for a comfortable start to her US Open campaign against the German International Laura Siegemund.

The 25-year old Petra will surely hope to better her US Open best performance of 4th round exit in 2009 and 2012 whereas Laura will look for a dream start against the 5th seeded German.

The two have never met each other in any professional matches before, so there can be a element of surprise for Petra when she faces Laura in the first round tie.

WTA Rankings

Petra Kvitova: 4 (4995 points)

Laura Siegemund: 126 (455 points)

Prediction: Petra Kvitova to win comfortably in straight sets.

#4 Simona Halep (2) vs Marina Erakovic

2^nd seed Simona Halep will play Marina Erakovic

Last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalists Simona Halep will be looking to better her 4th round US Open exit in 2013 and hoping for a safe passage to the round 2 of this year’s US Open against the New Zealand Internaitonal Marina Erakovic.

The two have never met on the international stage and therefore can take their opponent by surprise.

However, Halep is seeded at rank 2 in the US Open and will be hoping to go to the distance and win her first Grand Slam of her career.

WTA Rankings

Simona Halep: 2 (6130 points)

Marina Erakovic: 99 (635 points)

Prediction: Simona Halep to win go through the round 2 comfortably and win the match in straight sets.

#5 Venus Williams (23) vs Monica Puig

Monica Puig (L) will meet 7 Grand Slam winner Venus Williams today

7-time Grand Slam winner and 2-time US Open winner Venus Williams is seeded 23 in this year’s US Open and will be looking to go through the second round with a comfortable win against the 22-year old Monica Puig.

The pair has only met once before in their professional careers and Venus won that tie in three sets on a clay surface.

The 35-year-old Venus is looking to end her career on a high and will be confident to go through the 2nd round of the US Open.

WTA Rankings

Venus Williams: 23 (2072 points)

Monica Puig: 85 (705 points)

Prediction: Venus Williams to go through the 2nd round with a comfortable straight sets win.