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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.
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