Wimbledon Draw: The Ladies

You know, this draw looks a little like the Roland Garros draw, in that there are two pretty strong quarters and two fairly predictable ones. We might get to see a couple blockbuster Round of 16 matches, but I'm not going to lie – I have a hard time imagining much besides a Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams final on the second Saturday. The entire women's draw can be found here: http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/draws/ws/index.html

Here's a few thoughts and a few predictions of what might happen in the next two weeks:
Top Quarter
You know, Serena Williams will probably get through to the finals (and pretty easily, too), but she's got a lot of interesting players in her path, starting with her first-round match against Michelle Larcher de Brito. de Brito has been in a slump for the better part of the past year, but she's a young player, and she's had some good results in the past. Next up could be Andrea Petkovic, a German who is one of the top unseeded players in the draw. Grass-court specialist Tamarine Tanasugarn could be a third-round opponent, or it could be mercurial Lucie Safarova. Most likely, 2004 champion Maria Sharapova will be waiting in one of those five-star Round of 16 matches I mentioned. The bottom part of that quarter features ninth-seeded Na Li, 19th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova and seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska. I've got Radwanska coming through to meet Serena in the quarters.

Second Quarter
Here, I really think it's Samantha Stosur's quarter to lose, provided the Roland Garros runner-up can get over the disappointment of losing that final. Caroline Wozniacki is the third-seed here, but her path to looks pretty straightforward. Beyond those two, though. I think we're going to see a few upsets to the lower-seeded players, so don't overlook this quarter.
Assuming Stosur can get over that Roland Garros loss, her route looks pretty nice, too. I've got her and Wozniacki reaching the quarterfinals, and then I think Stosur has too many weapons for her Danish opponent. A couple players to keep an eye on in this quarter: 1995(!) semifinalist Kimiko Date-Krumm, who's got a nice draw, and 1999 semifinalist Mirjana Lucic, who plays 14th-seeded Victoria Azarenka. That should be one of the better first-round matches, and an upset wouldn't be stunning.

Third Quarter
You may as well call this the Belgian quarter - there are four Belgian women in the draw, and they all ended up here. It's Jelena Jankovic who is the highest-seeded player (at fourth), and she's kind of like Serena - she should reach the quarterfinals, but she might have an interesting path there, starting with 2008 junior champion Laura Robson. Robson, 16, of Great Britain has been one of the more hyped young players in the past two years, but her results don't really match that hype. The second-round could feature a grass-court specialist in qualifier and former top 20 player Eleni Daniilidou, and the third could bring Alona Bondarenko, who Jankovic has faced twice in the Slams this year. I could easily imagine a surprise player reaching the Round of 16 in this section. Yanina Wickmayer and Vera Zvonareva are the other seeded players, but neither has been in great form lately. Allison Riske just beat Wickmayer in Birmingham, Melanie Oudin reached the Round of 16 here last year, and Kirsten Flipkens (2003) and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (2009) are former junior champions here.
In the top part of the quarter, Kim Clijsters is seeded eighth, but she had a tough loss in Eastbourne, so I'm not sure what to make of her chances. She's been very inconsistent in 2010 so far, but I'm expecting her first two rounds to be pretty straightforward. In the third round, she's drawn Maria Kirilenko, who's had a couple upsets over countrywomen (Sharapova in Australia, Kuznetsova at Roland Garros) at the Slams this year. In the Round of 16, she'll most likely play either Nadia Petrova, who upset her in Australia, or Justine Henin, who's in the finals at s'Hertogenbosch this week. Either way, she's probably in for the second potential blockbuster of the fourth round. For my money, this is, undoubtedly, the most interesting quarter.

Fourth Quarter
If she's healthy, I've got Venus Williams going all the way, and there just aren't any players in this quarter who worry me against her. She starts with a clay-court specialist in Rossana de los Rios, and she might not face a top 10 player until the finals. As the draw sits, she's guaranteed not to meet one until the quarterfinals, and that's assuming Francesca Schiavone comes through her section. That, of course, is assuming Schiavone can come back to Earth after her stunning win in Paris, and I don't think she will. I've got her reaching the Round of 16, but it's easy to imagine her going out as early as the first round - she's drawn against Russian (and 2002 junior champion) Vera Dushevina. I think Marion Bartoli goes through to meet Venus.

Fearful Predictions
They're fearful, because I'm not at all certain they'll come true, but I'm going to put myself on the line anyway and tell you what I think is going to happen, starting with the Round of 16.
(1) Serena Williams vs. (16) Maria Sharapova
(9) Na Li. vs. (7) Agnieszka Radwanska
(3) Caroline Wozniacki vs. Petra Kvitova
(18) Aravane Rezai vs. (6) Samantha Stosur
(8) Kim Clijsters vs. (17) Justine Henin
(21) Vera Zvonareva vs. (4) Jelena Jankovic
(5) Francesca Schiavone vs. (11) Marion Bartoli
Jarmila Groth vs. (2) Venus Williams

Quarterfinals
Serena Williams vs. Agnieszka Radwanska
Caroline Wozniacki vs. Samantha Stosur
Justine Henin vs. Jelena Jankovic
Marion Bartoli vs. Venus Williams

Semifinals
Serena Williams vs. Samantha Stosur
Justine Henin vs. Venus Williams

Finals
Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams

Champion: Venus Williams