Hey everyone. For as much as I love sports, Tennis is the only one I actually played in an organized capacity after the age of 13. Just like most athletic endeavors, I found myself very knowledgeable about what was going on and completely unable to make my body do the things it had to do. Alas!
But now that I'm, ostensibly, grown up, I remain a tennis fan. I watch the Slams pretty religiously, and at least nominally keep tabs on the remainder of the season. So, I'm pretty thrilled about the 2014 season finally starting up! Tonight (Day 2 of the Open) I finally look at the Men's and Women's Singles Draws, and here are some preliminary thoughts:
Men's Draw
-Wasn't Jordan Thompson v. #20 Jerzy Janowicz fun? Now, even after he got up 2-0, I gave the kid maybe a 40% chance of taking the match - come on, Janowicz can't lose to a guy making his TOUR DEBUT, eh? - but those first two sets were certainly fun to watch. A total of 5 unforced errors over those two sets will give the 19-year-old something to look back on fondly as he tries to climb into the Top 100 and the Tour scene.
- I think #11 Milos Raonic has a pretty good shot to get to the QFs to face Nadal. He'll have to take out (if seeding holds) Hanescu, #22 Dimitrov, and #5 Del Potro to do so, but I think that's a fairly kind road. I am a big JMDP fan, but with all the injuries he's been very inconsistent lately (truth be told, I haven't heard anything about his present health). It wouldn't shock me if, like last year, he made at least one Grand Slam SF this year and also bowed out in R64 of a Grand Slam.
- I really like the 32nd of Cilic v. Granollers and Brands v. #18 Simon. Whoever gets out of that foursome - keep your eye on Cilic - is set to face #10 Tsonga. Whoever wins that match will face a beatable #6 Federer for a berth in the QFs.
- #7 Tomas Berdych (crazy striped shirt and all) is a popular SF pick, and he should be. The other seed in his 16th is #32 Dodig, and #12 Tommy Haas already retired from his 8th. That leaves #19 Kevin Anderson as Berdych's only big-name competition before a QF match-up with #3 Ferrer. Berdych is definitely the kind of player who can beat Anderson at the big man's own game, and Ferrer is the usual whipping boy among the Top 4 Seeds. If Berdych and Ferrer meet, I call it a coin flip.
- The bottom quarter seems to be the most straightforward, and the most likely QF match-up in the whole tournament, I think, is #8 Wawrinka v. #2 Djokovic. I'd be *very* surprised if they didn't meet in the last 8.
Joe's Picks:
QFs: #11 Raonic v. #1 Nadal; #10 Tsonga v. #4 Murray; #7 Berdych v. #3 Ferrer; #8 Wawrinka v. #2 Djokovic
SFs: What a Shock!!! #1 Nadal v. #4 Murray; #3 Ferrer v. #2 Djokovic!!! I NEVER expected THAT.
Finals: #1 Nadal v. #2 Djokovic
Winner: #2 Djokovic
Women's Draw
Admittedly, I follow the Women's game a little less closer than the Men's, but I still follow it, which is a lot more than most of my tennis-watching fans can say. I do often catch myself cheering for the prettier player, and I keep reminding myself that this is not proper, and whatnot, but I digress. Like on the Men's side, I have my favorite players in this draw as well.
- Obviously, #1 Serena Williams is going to win. Right? Yeah. Probably. I'll give her, maybe, 60%, which is probably short-changing her. Interestingly, Serena's best record is in the Australian Open (5 wins in 13 tries), but she's gone longer without hoisting the trophy than she has for the other 3 Slams. Interestingly enough, she's never reached the QFs without winning the tournament. To get to the QFs, she'll have to beat #31 Hantuchova - not a pushover - and either #17 Stosur or #14 Ivanovic.
- And who will Williams face in the QFs? Yesterday was a bad day for the Italian women, with #12 Vinci and #7 Errani both falling. That leaves #30 Bouchard and #18 Flipkens as the remaining seeds. Obviously, the wild card is - hopefully, for we Yanks - going to be 18-year-old American Madison Keys, who is currently 36th but is predicted by many to leap as high as the Top 10 by year's end. Keys doesn't have an easy path; her first match is against Zheng Jie, the 2010 Aussie Semifinalist who defeated Keys in the first round of the 2012 Australian Open. However, an 18-year-old vs. a 30-year-old is quite different from 16-vs.-28, and Keys should be the favorite. She'll then have Flipkens and Bouchard to contend with, in that order. Call me a homer, but I'll say Keys makes her first big breakthrough here.
- Much like Serena, #4 Li Na has seen her main stumbling block to the Semifinals - #6 Petra Kvitova (a favorite player of Joe's, alas) - fall in the first round. Unlike Serena, though, she won't find her path a cakewalk, as #26 Safarova, #15 Lisicki, and especially #9 Kerber are significant threats. I still like Li to win this quarter, but would not be surprised if Kerber, Lisicki, or maybe even an unseeded opponent like Luksika Kumkhum, who looked fantastic taking out Kvitova, got there instead.
- The third quarter is #3 Sharapova's to lose, but lose she might. The winner of #8 Jelena Jankovic and #11 Simona Halep (who is one of the bust players in the world, ha ha! But seriously. Look up her story, which raises, among other things, interesting sports ethics questions) will pose a serious threat.
- Finally, call me an unabashed #5 Agnieszka Radwanska fan. She and #10 Wozniacki - Rory McIlroy's newly ringed fiancée - should be the best QF match if it happens. Obviously, though, #2 Victoria Azarenka, who is looking for a three-peat in Australia, is Serena Williams's biggest threat.
Joe's Picks:
QFs: #1 Williams v. Keys; #4 Li v. Kumkhum; #11 Halep v. #3 Sharapova; #5 Radwanska v. #2 Azarenka
SFs: #1 Williams v. #4 Li; #11 Halep v. #2 Azarenka
Finals: #1 Williams v. #2 Azarenka
Winner: #1 Williams
Let me know why I'm an idiot! Time to go back to my room and watch all of the people I just put in the SFs lose and make me look dumb.
No comments:
Post a Comment