Karolina Pliskova, Garbine Muguruza lead list of contenders for Australian Open title
WITH Serena Williams out, the women’s draw is wide open and no clear-cut favourite to win this year’s Australian Open has emerged — yet. KATE SALEMME runs through all the leading contenders.
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WITH Serena Williams on maternity leave the women’s draw is wide open and no clear-cut favourite to win this year’s Australian Open has emerged — yet.
Karolina Pliskova was the early favourite before Friday night’s draw after a good week at the Brisbane International where she made the semi-final but has found herself in a tough quarter.
Brisbane champion Elina Svitolina is one of the favourites but has never won a grand slam, and neither has world No.1 Simona Halep. In fact, seven of the top-10 women are yet to win a major — aside from Garbine Muguruza, Venus Williams and Jelena Ostapenko.
It means this year’s women’s draw will be particularly interesting and it would come as no shock to see a debut slam winner.
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Or, could we see last year’s runner-up Venus Williams finally claim grand slam No.8?
KATE SALEMME looks at the women’s contenders.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA
Pliskova was one of the hot favourites to win last year’s tournament after an impressive run to the Brisbane title but was shocked by fairytale story Marjana Lucic-Baroni in the quarterfinals. The No.6 seed was tipped to claim her maiden grand slam title in 2017 but that didn’t happen and there’s no doubt the Czech would have learnt lessons from a year she’d view as a missed opportunity. Could this be her time to shine? She’ll have to overcome a tough draw and potential match-ups against No.9 seed Johanna Konta (fourth-round), No.1 Simona Halep (quarterfinal) and any one of No.3 Garbine Muguruza, No.21 Angelique Kerber and Maria Sharapova to even make the final. With Serena Williams on maternity leave, Pliskova has the biggest weapon on tour right now — her serve — and when on song it’s nearly unplayable, allowing her to win a number of free points. But while she’s a power player with huge groundstrokes — she moves well around the court for her size and is competent at the net. Has the all-round game to win.
GARBINE MUGURUZA
A two-time grand slam champion, Muguruza should be one of the hot favourites to win the tournament but heads to Melbourne under a serious injury cloud after a retirement in Brisbane and withdrawal in Sydney with a right thigh issue. Interestingly, the Spaniard completed her match against world No.32 Kiki Bertens — which she won in straight sets — before pulling out of the tournament. Could it be she felt she had enough preparation for the first grand slam of the year? She’s got the game to win it — power, court coverage and serve — but is in a very tough quarter of the draw and could face a third-round test against former No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska before potential clashes against either Kerber or Sharapova in the fourth round. At her best, back her in to account for each of those and go deep into the second week. If fit, is one of my picks to win the title.
ELINA SVITOLINA
The Ukrainian is a rising star on the tour and has developed her game in the last year to become a seriously dangerous player with claims to win her first major. She won five WTA titles last year and claimed the Brisbane International championship to get her 2018 season off to a winning start. Svitolina can fly under the radar despite being the No.4 seed because she doesn’t have the raw power or reputation of some of her peers but should make a deep run into the second week. The 23-year-old is in a favourable section of the draw, with a smooth path to the fourth round where she could meet US Open champion Sloane Stephens. She’s a good baseline player and her backhand is the weapon. Svitolina has a winning record against Halep (3-2 head-to-head), No.2 Carolina Wozniacki (3-1), No.3 Muguruza (4-3), No.9 Johanna Konta (3-0) and No.10 Coco Vandeweghe, while is 1-1 with No.5 Venus Williams. Pliskova, Jelena Ostapenko and Caroline Garcia are the only top-10 players to have the upper hand in the head-to-head — Pliskova leads 2-5, Ostapenko 0-1 and Garcia 1-2.
VENUS WILLIAMS
The 37-year-old was so close to a fairytale finish at least year’s Open if it wasn’t for her little sister Serena. No doubt if Venus can get past a really tough opening-round clash with Swiss former top-10 Belinda Bencic then she will be the sentimental favourite to finally claim grand slam title No.8 and her first one in Melbourne. Venus had an outstanding season in 2017, making two slam finals (Australian Open and Wimbledon) and the semi-finals at the US Open so don’t let her age fool you — she is one of the favourites for this tournament. If she can beat Bencic in the opening round, her draw opens up from there. She’s still got all the tricks — a big serve, power behind the groundstrokes and moves exceptionally well around the court, not to mention the never-say-die Williams mental strength. It would be an amazing story to see her lift the trophy.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
Persistence, persistence, persistence. A former world No.1, Wozniacki has slid down and then back up the rankings in recent years but her end to the 2017 season at the WTA finals was seriously impressive, winning the tournament after defeating Svitolina, Pliskova, Halep and then Williams in the final. She’s got a dream draw and should reach the quarterfinals with little trouble before potentially facing Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko. Australia hasn’t been Wozniacki’s best grand slam – she hasn’t made it to the second week since 2013 – but she’s at the top of her game right now and has started the season in good form despite losing the Auckland final to world No.12 Julia Gorges. She’s yet to win a major but has never given up on the dream and worked extremely hard to climb back up the rankings and adjust and
reinvent her game to match it with the best players. One of the big chances.
MARIA SHARAPOVA
The last time we saw Sharapova in Australia she lost her 18th straight match to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals in 2016 and then tested positive to banned drug meldonium. She’s served a doping ban and is working her way back up the rankings and if she’s to win the tournament it would be a massive effort as she’s unseeded and is in a tough section of the draw. Sharapova is facing possible match-ups against her US Open conqueror No.14 seed Anastasija Sevastova in the second round, Kerber in the third round, Muguruza in the fourth round and potentially one of No.8 Garcia, No.11 Kristina Mladenovic, No.17 Madison Keys and No.28 Lucic-Baroni in the quarters. Ouch. Still, the Russian has a point to prove and we’re not going to count her out because we know she’s still a top-10 player even though he ranking doesn’t reflect that right now.
JOHANNA KONTA
No.9 seed Konta has saved her strongest grand slam performances for the Australian Open but she’s heading into the event under an injury cloud. She withdrew from the Brisbane International before jetting to Sydney where she declared herself fit but was then stunned by a straight sets loss to Agnieszka Radwanska who has struggled since. Is she fit? At her best she’s got the game to go all the way but all eyes will be on the Brit in the opening rounds.
ROUGHIES
ANGELIQUE KERBER
The winner of the 2016 Australian Open and US Open, Kerber has struggled since her stunning season two years ago when she shot to the No.1 ranking. She had a poor season last year, dropping to No.22 in the world after a string of early exits from tournaments, including grand slams. She’s looked good in her preparations so far this year — at the Hopman Cup and Sydney International — but it appears her game has been worked out. Is in a tough section of the draw and could face No.14 Sevastova or Sharapova in the third round. Relies too much on her opponent making an error.
SIMONA HALEP
It’s strange to have a world No.1 as a roughie but Halep is yet to win a grand slam and the closest she’s been was at Roland Garros last year when she was beaten by then-unseeded 20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko. Has lost in the first round in Melbourne the last two years and before that made it to the quarterfinals but was smashed in straight sets. Australia isn’t a happy hunting ground for the Romanian and I’m not sure she has the weapons to trump the likes of Pliskova and Muguruza. She covers the court extremely well but doesn’t attack enough.
PETRA KVITOVA
A two-time Wimbledon champion, Kvitova is still working her way back after a horrific home invasion late in 2016 where she was stabbed. That caused her to miss last year’s Australian Open before making a return in the clay court season. Kvitova knows how to win and being a left-hander, that can always cause headaches for opponents. She’s a top-10 player at her best but will be seeded 27 at this year’s tournament which makes her path tough. Could face Halep in the third round but that wouldn’t faze her one bit because she’s got the game to beat the world No.1. If fit and ready to go, Kvitova could be the surprise packet.
JELENA OSTAPENKO
The 20-year-old stunned the tennis world last year by winning Roland Garros as an unseeded player, with hew raw power, aggressive style and maturity beyond her years helping her to her first slam win. That has seen Ostapenko rocket up the rankings and will be seeded No.7 at the Open. The hard courts in Melbourne should suit her power game but as we saw with Kerber last year, getting to the top is easy, staying there is the hard part. No doubt players spent their pre-season studying her game and coming up with ways to counter it. Will be one to watch with interest.
COCO VANDEWEGHE
The American started 2017 ranked No.37 in the world before a brilliant run at the Australian Open where she made the semi-final and backed it up with a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon and semi-final at the US Open. Now ranked No.10, Vandeweghe is every chance to go deep again with her aggressive style — she goes for her shots and never dies wondering. More often than not the match is on her racquet with the winners to unforced errors column critical. Has a tough first round against world No.49 Timea Babos, could face former top-10 player Carla Suarez-Navarro in the second round as Ostapenko looms in the fourth round.
SLOANE STEPHENS
Stephens won her maiden grand slam at the US Open last year and hasn’t hit the same heights since but the hard courts will suit the American’s game. She’s a power player — goes after her shots, has a good serve and moves well around the court. Like Vandeweghe the match if often on her racquet. Has a one of the toughest first round matches of the tournament against world No.35 Shuai Zhang, who has made a quarterfinal here before. If she gets through the opening round, her draw opens up before a potential match-up with Svitolina in the fourth round but would definitely fancy her chances. Don’t count her out.
MADISON KEYS
The hard-hitting American is touted as a future grand slam winner and came close at the US Open, losing to compatriot Stephens in the final. Another power player, the hard courts suit Keys’ game and if she serves well and hits more winners than unforced errors, then look out. I think Keys can definitely cause a few upsets and feature deep into the second week. Can she go all the way? I wouldn’t be surprised to see her in the final.
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