Sunday, June 21, 2009

Wimbledon first round matches

The first round of Wimbledon, for me, is not nearly as interesting as the first round of the French Open was, and that's not surprising, because several otherwise competent players do not do that well on grass, and my expectations are lowered. Here are a few matches I have my eye on:

Anna Chakvetadze vs. Sabine Lisicki: Neither is at her best. Chakvetadze hasn't been at her best for a long, long time, though she shows occasional flashes of the former top 10 player. Lisicki hurt her shoulder, then became ill, and has played very few matches lately. She was unable to get much of anything--including her amazing serve--going at the French Open. There is probably also a loss of confidence at this point. So if either player can find some of her potential, she wins. Should they both find it (which I doubt), it will be a very good match. And should neither find it--it will be one to skip.

Alexa Glatch vs. Peng Shuai: This is a chance for Glatch to show off her grass skills. Should she win, though, she will almost certainly have to face Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round.

Sybille Bammer vs. Melanie Oudin: I don't know what Oudin is like on grass, but she's pretty good on clay. Bammer runs hot and cold, so Oudin has a chance here.

Aleksandra Wozniak vs. Francesca Schiavone: One doesn't think of Schiavone as a grass player, but she has done pretty well this grass season. Of course, so has Wozniak.

Yanina Wickmayer vs. Elena Vesnina: Vesnina had a really good clay season, but she may be vulnerable on grass, and she may be vulnerable to Wickmayer.

Vera Dushevina vs. Alize Cornet: The Frenchwoman has the ranking, but Dushevina knows a thing or two about playing on grass.

Maria Sharapova vs. Victoriya Kutuzova: Why isn't Kutuzova ranked higher? She knows how to do some damage with that forehand, and could give Sharapova a workout.

Daniela Hantuchova vs. Laura Robson: The luck of the draw isn't very good for last year's junior champion.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Petra Cetkovska: Two talented young players compete.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding, besides Chakky, Robson couldn't ask for more of a choker than Dani. But we'll see.

Diane said...

I don't think Hantuchova generally starts choking until she is well into a tournament.