With the Australian Open qualifying now underway in Melbourne, it is time to look at the contenders for the title down under, focusing on the women.
The womens draw lacks only one big name, 'Serena Williams' Still bogged down with injury the former world number one will be missed by her fans. The womens tournament will never-the-less be very interesting to see unfold, with plenty of contenders that could all cause an upset.
Kim Clijsters is the obvious choice for the title. The Belgian won the US Open late last year in dominant form and her power can destroy most of her opponents. She is playing freely and with a lot of passion since her return to the tour in 2009 and its easy to see Kim is enjoying herself being a 'tennis mum' She is however beatable, just look at todays result where Kim was nearly toppled by Alisa Kleybanova of Russia, ranked only number 25 in the world.
Justine Henin is another contender. The Belgian played Hopman Cup last week and came through her matches with no difficulty, however will her fitness hold up over two weeks of gruelling tennis? Has she the game to really mix it with Clijsters and is she as consistently good as when she was world number one a few years ago. I think if she gets off to a good start in Melbourne and can win her way into form then she could cause anyone problems and could well give herself a chance of winning the title. I think we will have to wait and see in week one how well she is playing and how fit she really is.
World number one and two Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva have obvious claims for the title. Both girls had amazingly consistent years in 2010. Zvonareva reached grand slam finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open, only to fall at the last hurdle, while Wozniacki became world number one after winning a string of high class tournaments outside of the slams. Zvonareva has all the shots, the only thing stopping her is her mental strength. She wants these big titles so much, but she needs to keep a positive mind and stop those tearful moments from upsetting her game. Wozniacki hasn't had the best start to 2011 and it may well be the pressure of the number one ranking which will take its toll on her this year. Already the media are asking how she can be world number one without a Grand Slam victory and Caroline has to go out in Melbourne and sohw then just why she can!
Other girls in the draw that have potential to go into the later stages of the Australian Open are Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, who has enormous power and also Li Na of China who has just reached the final in Sydney and reached the semi-finals last year in Melbourne, showing her liking for the conditions in Australia. Sam Stosur would be a crowd favourite though i think her best chance of a Grand Slam title would be the French Open where she was a finalist last year.
There are plenty of betting on Australian Open opportunities so good luck to you all in predicting the winner of the first Grand Slam of the year and your match predictions throughout the tournament. Don't forget to check out my regular daily updates
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