Sony Ericsson Open Draw Thoughts (Women)
So the draws are out for the Sony Ericsson Open and it’s time to take a look through and see what catches our eye! Here is the breakdown of the WTA draw:
Being biased, the first thing I was looking for was Michelle Larcher de Brito’s name. She has grown up at the Academy, and made her mark at the SEO last year when she defeated Meghann Shaughnessy in the first round as a 14-year old. This year, Larcher de Brito will face Russian Ekaterina Makarova in the first round. Makarova is a 19-year old who is ranked #75 in the world. She did reach the 3rd round of the Australian Open earlier this year. Should be a very good challenge for Michelle, and the winner will get #17 Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round.
Another Academy student, Sabine Lisicki will play American Coco Vandeweghe in the first round. Both girls are young and talented and both received wild cards into the main draw. Don’t forget, Lisicki reached the third round of the Aussie Open and has wins over Dinara Safina and Lindsay Davenport this year.
Looking forward here are a couple of potential match-ups to keep your eye on:
- Ana Ivanovic (#2) vs. Lindsay Davenport (#32) - This would be a third round match and would be one heck of a battle. The two have yet to play a match, but I am sure there will be plenty of people out there that think Lindsay can win this. I don’t think anyone is playing better tennis on the WTA Tour then Ivanovic right now.
- Venus Williams (#6) vs. Marion Bartoli (#9) - This would not only be a fourth round match, it would be a rematch from last year’s Wimbledon finals. That was the one and only time they have played, and of course Venus won that in straight sets.
- Justine Henin (#1) vs. Serena Williams (#
- This is the match to end all matches! A quarterfinal between Henin and Serena is pretty common these days. The last three matches they have played have been quarterfinals, and they were all in Grand Slams. Last year they played in the finals and Serena came back from the brink of defeat to win the match in three sets.
What matches are you looking forward to?
A fourth round match between Agnes Szavay and Justine Henin could prove to be very interesting.