2023 Australian Open - Women's Singles Discussion

[Aussie Darcy]

And here we are, first slam of the year.

Lots of different events have gone down in the ladies tennis world the last 12 months, Ash Barty retiring while a dominant #1, Serena Williams retirement, Halep being suspended for doping, Swiatek becoming a dominant #1, Garcia's rapid ride back to the top, Kerber & Osaka announcing pregnancies, Rybakina storming onto the scene with a Wimbledon title.

This tournament features the following seeds:
Swiatek, Jabeur, Pegula, Garcia, Sabalenka, Sakkari, Gauff, Kasatkina, Kudermetova, Keys, Badosa, Bencic, Collins, Haddad Maia, Kvitova, Kontaveit, Ostapenko, Samsonova, Alexandrova, Krejcikova, Trevisan, Rybakina, Zhang, Azarenka, Bouzkova, Mertens, Begu, Anisimova, Zheng Qinwen, Pliskova, Kanepi & Teichmann.

Wildcards went to:
Birrell, Fourlis, Gadecki, Gibson, Hunter, Parry, Townsend & Uchijima (don't expect any of them to go deep)

The most amount of Protected Rankings i've ever seen used:
Cristian, Kenin, Kucova, Muchova, Palvyuchenkova, Podoroska, Rodina, Siegemund, Tig, Vondrousova & Zheng SaiSai.

A bunch of appealing 1R matches:
#25 Bouzkova v Andreescu
#17 Ostapenko v Yastremska
#7 Gauff v Siniakova
#24 Azarenka v Kenin (2012 & 2013 champ vs 2020 champ)
Fernandez v Cornet (winner likely faces #4 Garcia)
#26 Mertens v Muguruza (2018 SFist v 2020 finalist)
Pavlyuchenkova v Giorgi
Riske v Vondrousova

Swiatek is looking to hold 3 of the 4 slams at once, something that hasn't been done since Serena held all 4 after the 2015 Wimbledon tournament.

With Barty and Serena's retirement along with Osaka and Kerber's withdrawal due to pregnancy, only 2 former champs remain in the draw. 2020 champ Sofia Kenin & 2012 & 2013 champ Victoria Azarenka.
And just 3 former finalists are in the draw which are: Collins, Muguruza, Kvitova.

Hell, even just the former SFists in the draw are slim:
Keys, Swiatek, Muchova, Pliskova, Mertens, Vandeweghe & Sloane.

Lots on offer for this slam so let's go. Who do you have winning? And as always, if you vote "other" in the poll, you have to name who will win in advance otherwise you get no credit and I will call you out for your weak poll response

 

[bezs]

Didn't know Muguruza's ranking dropped to the point she's unseeded.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Didn't know Muguruza's ranking dropped to the point she's unseeded.

After winning the 2021 WTA Finals (by winning 4 of 5 matches against top 10 players), she finished the year at #3. In 2022 she never won 3 matches in a row. Her best results last year were a Doha QF and US Open 3R. She finished the year ranked #55.

From #3 to #55 in 12 months, it was utterly embarrassing.

 

[HFK]

I'm on the Pegula bandwagon.

 

[PDJ]

After winning the 2021 WTA Finals (by winning 4 of 5 matches against top 10 players), she finished the year at #3. In 2022 she never won 3 matches in a row. Her best results last year were a Doha QF and US Open 3R. She finished the year ranked #55.

From #3 to #55 in 12 months, it was utterly embarrassing.

She's a Plan A player. If not firing on all cylinders she's rather ordinary. A flattering career given how average she can be.
In fairness, her lob is amazing.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

She's a Plan A player. If not firing on all cylinders she's rather ordinary. A flattering career given how average she can be.
In fairness, her lob is amazing.

Really thought after that 2021 WTF win she'd have a decent 2022, never would have ever expected it to be the gigantic fail that followed. I think she won consecutive matches only twice the entire year. It was ugly and awful.

 

[PDJ]

Really thought after that 2021 WTF win she'd have a decent 2022, never would have ever expected it to be the gigantic fail that followed. I think she won consecutive matches only twice the entire year. It was ugly and awful.

I assumed she'd go back to being variable. She's basically a poor man's Sharapova. If she had half of Sharapova's mental strength her career would be more consistent.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

I assumed she'd go back to being variable. She's basically a poor man's Sharapova. If she had half of Sharapova's mental strength her career would be more consistent.

Variable is one thing, like winning a 500 or a 250 but only making one slam 3R and not even one SF for the entire year after such a huge accomplishment was shocking. There's falling off and then there's what she did.

 

[Purestriker]

And here we are, first slam of the year.

Lots of different events have gone down in the ladies tennis world the last 12 months, Ash Barty retiring while a dominant #1, Serena Williams retirement, Halep being suspended for doping, Swiatek becoming a dominant #1, Garcia's rapid ride back to the top, Kerber & Osaka announcing pregnancies, Rybakina storming onto the scene with a Wimbledon title.

This tournament features the following seeds:
Swiatek, Jabeur, Pegula, Garcia, Sabalenka, Sakkari, Gauff, Kasatkina, Kudermetova, Keys, Badosa, Bencic, Collins, Haddad Maia, Kvitova, Kontaveit, Ostapenko, Samsonova, Alexandrova, Krejcikova, Trevisan, Rybakina, Zhang, Azarenka, Bouzkova, Mertens, Begu, Anisimova, Zheng Qinwen, Pliskova, Kanepi & Teichmann.

Wildcards went to:
Birrell, Fourlis, Gadecki, Gibson, Hunter, Parry, Townsend & Uchijima (don't expect any of them to go deep)

The most amount of Protected Rankings i've ever seen used:
Cristian, Kenin, Kucova, Muchova, Palvyuchenkova, Podoroska, Rodina, Siegemund, Tig, Vondrousova & Zheng SaiSai.

A bunch of appealing 1R matches:
#25 Bouzkova v Andreescu
#17 Ostapenko v Yastremska
#7 Gauff v Siniakova
#24 Azarenka v Kenin (2012 & 2013 champ vs 2020 champ)
Fernandez v Cornet (winner likely faces #4 Garcia)
#26 Mertens v Muguruza (2018 SFist v 2020 finalist)
Pavlyuchenkova v Giorgi
Riske v Vondrousova

Swiatek is looking to hold 3 of the 4 slams at once, something that hasn't been done since Serena held all 4 after the 2015 Wimbledon tournament.

With Barty and Serena's retirement along with Osaka and Kerber's withdrawal due to pregnancy, only 2 former champs remain in the draw. 2020 champ Sofia Kenin & 2012 & 2013 champ Victoria Azarenka.
And just 3 former finalists are in the draw which are: Collins, Muguruza, Kvitova.

Hell, even just the former SFists in the draw are slim:
Keys, Swiatek, Muchova, Pliskova, Mertens, Vandeweghe & Sloane.

Lots on offer for this slam so let's go. Who do you have winning? And as always, if you vote "other" in the poll, you have to name who will win in advance otherwise you get no credit and I will call you out for your weak poll response

Hard to go against IGA!

 

[Purestriker]

Didn't know Muguruza's ranking dropped to the point she's unseeded.

She has not won a quality match in a while.

 

[Deleted member 791948]

Kenin and Barty are the only entertaining women's champs in recent years.
Kenin is the only player capable of making women's tennis great again.

 

[zvelf]

My guess is that the semis will be Swiatek, Pegula, Kudermotova, and Sabalenka with Sabalenka winning it all. But given how easy it is to get upset in the WTA, I have a far below 50% of being correct.

 

[Purestriker]

My guess is that the semis will be Swiatek, Pegula, Kudermotova, and Sabalenka with Sabalenka winning it all. But given how easy it is to get upset in the WTA, I have a far below 50% of being correct.

Sabs is playing great, but her history at the AO is not all the great. Kudermetova is playing great and should have a good run.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

B Krejčíková - S Bejlek , a Czech derby

 

[Marius_Hancu]

L Fernandez - A Cornet
to play the winner of
K Sebov - C Garcia
What a Canadian - French quartet

 

[ktx]

Going with Jess Pegula. I think this is her shot. Iga will fall before semis.

 

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

My guess is that the semis will be Swiatek, Pegula, Kudermotova, and Sabalenka with Sabalenka winning it all. But given how easy it is to get upset in the WTA, I have a far below 50% of being correct.

I would not mind seeing Sabalenka take the AO title.

 

[coolcamden]

Going with Jess Pegula. I think this is her shot. Iga will fall before semis.

My wife said the same. I’d be happy with that. Although I’m thinking Kuder.

 

[Kralingen]

This sounds crazy to back her but I’m going Sabalenka.

 

[ktx]

This sounds crazy to back her but I’m going Sabalenka.

It's not crazy bc if she's on she is unbeatable.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Really unfortunate for Australia, our top ranked female Ajla Tomljanovic has withdrawn. Ajla made the Wimbledon QF again last year and of course is known for handing Serena her last ever defeat.

 

[Kralingen]

It's not crazy bc if she's on she is unbeatable.

It’s the way she’s attacking second serves in Adelaide that made me finally empty the chamber on her odds. I know her low margin game is prone to misfiring and the prospect of the Aryna experience coming to a Slam final is risky, but something about her mindset in those matches really clicked. She’s totally content to play the percentages and take the misses in stride, because she knows that when she does land the big serve and the aggressive returns it’s impossible to stop.

I also like her side of the draw a lot. An easy path to the QFs and avoiding Iga pre final.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

This is a brutal stat.

Just one year on from an Aussie winning the title, we now don't have a single Aussie in the draw that isn't there thanks to a wildcard.

Barty retired, Tomljanovic and Saville injured.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1614084482918920193

 

[Aussie Darcy]

This sounds crazy to back her but I’m going Sabalenka.

It's not crazy bc if she's on she is unbeatable.

I had a look at the draw and odds and what I felt and i've settled on Sabalenka as well. Felt crazy considering this time last year she was serving the yips with 20+ double faults but she looked fantastic in Adelaide and she has the best draw of the top ladies.

Iga the obvious favourite but Andreescu/Bouzkova 3R and then Collins in the 4R who easily beat her last year here in the SF, not confident.
Jabeur isn't in the best form looking injured against Noskova. Her draw isn't great either facing Riske/Vondrousova in the 2R, always dangerous Kanepi 3R and Haddad Maia/Samsonova 4R.
Pegula was going to be my pick but her draw is tough, Anisimova 3R, Krejcikova/Kvitova 4R, Keys/Vika/Sakkari QF. Has the potential to go deep but she's arguably the 2nd favourite for the title, wonder how she handles that pressure.
Garcia looked only ok in Adelaide with a 3 set win over Siniakova before a 3 set loss to Bencic. Her draw is actually not bad except a brutal 2R against either Cornet or Fernandez. If she gets through that I can see her making the QF or even the SF but I don't see her winning the AO.
Sakkari i'm sorry to say I don't see her winning a slam. I'd need to see her win something above a WTA 250/International before tipping her for a slam. She's gone deep at every type of tournament from slams to the WTA Finals but she just hasn't shown she has that killer instinct.
Gauff, maybe one day but not yet. She's drawn Swiatek in the QF and I don't think she can knock Iga out.
Kasatkina had the poor loss to Noskova last week in Adelaide but is into the Adelaide 2.0 final this week. Just don't see her as a slam champ in her career. Can see her being amongst the top levels in the top 10 for a while but never nabbing a slam (like Safarova, Suarez Navarro).

Collins, Kvitova and Haddad Maia under the radar for me.

 

[coolcamden]

Oh No. PB is out. She’s been having a streak of bad junk lately.

 

[Mark-Touch]

Tough break for Azarenka and Kenin to face each other 1st round.

 

[Grizzy]

Never look at the draw for the WTA and assume even half of the seeded players will win their first/second round matches. Are you guys watching your first slams??

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Tough break for Azarenka and Kenin to face each other 1st round.

Last time they met Azarenka thrashed Kenin 6-0 6-0 while Sofia was #5 in the world. Hopefully this will be more competitive.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Never look at the draw for the WTA and assume even half of the seeded players will win their first/second round matches. Are you guys watching your first slams??

Don't think anyone is under the impression we are suddenly going to have all top 8 seeds make the QF or all the top seeds make the 3R.... Not sure where you got that impression. It is common to talk about the top players going into a slam, doesn't mean we think they'll deliver.

 

[bezs]

Quite a hit today with both Ajla and Badosa out.

 

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

Never look at the draw for the WTA and assume even half of the seeded players will win their first/second round matches. Are you guys watching your first slams??

Interesting point. There are no "sure-thing" players at this AO.

 

[Deleted member 791948]

I just hope Sofia Kenin does well. She is the most entertaining female player since Hingis.

 

[ScottleeSV]

I can't believe two top players pulled out today but one of them isn't Raducanu.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Somehow missed mentioning that the only 2 former Australian Open champs in the draw are facing eachother in the 1R.

2012 & 2013 champ Azarenka v 2020 champ Kenin.

After R1, we'll have just one former champ left. Pretty crazy.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1614474699110772736

Doubles draw has dropped:

All the top doubles teams along with some great teams with good singles players:

Fruhvirtova/Riske
Kudermetova/Samsonova
Babos/Mladenovic (back together at a slam for the first time since Wimbledon 2021, 4x slam winning partnership).
Collins/Watson
Fernandez/Mattek Sands.
Pavlyuchenkova/Rybakina.
Bronzetti/Cocciaretto (Bronzetti coming off a good United Cup and Cocciaretto off the Hobart final).
Bencic/Teichmann
Kenin/Putintseva (that's one fiery pairing)
Cornet/Stosur (4x ladies doubles champ Stosur's final tournament)

 

[Mark-Touch]

Doubles draw has dropped:

All the top doubles teams along with some great teams with good singles players:

Fruhvirtova/Riske
Kudermetova/Samsonova
Babos/Mladenovic (back together at a slam for the first time since Wimbledon 2021, 4x slam winning partnership).
Collins/Watson
Fernandez/Mattek Sands.
Pavlyuchenkova/Rybakina.
Bronzetti/Cocciaretto (Bronzetti coming off a good United Cup and Cocciaretto off the Hobart final).
Bencic/Teichmann
Kenin/Putintseva (that's one fiery pairing)
Cornet/Stosur (4x ladies doubles champ Stosur's final tournament)

I'll definitely be watching some of their matches!
Don't know if I have a fave pair quite yet.

 

[spystud]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1614523963237085184

 

[flyingboris]

Starting at the same time (7pm ET):
Gauff vs Siniakova
Collins vs Kalinskaya
Raducanu vs Korpatsch
Andreescu vs Bouzkova
Anisimova vs Kostyuk

Busy (US) night!

 

[Mark-Touch]

Starting at the same time (7pm ET):
Gauff vs Siniakova
Collins vs Kalinskaya
Raducanu vs Korpatsch
Andreescu vs Bouzkova
Anisimova vs Kostyuk

Busy (US) night!

All of my eyes will be on the women's matches.

 

[flyingboris]

All of my eyes will be on the women's matches.

Yes! I watch it because of the stories. Curious to see how Gauff is doing, curious whether US Open winner Raducanu will get injured at 6-3 5*-1 Korpatsch, curious whether US Open winner Andreescu is getting back some of her former invincibility, curious if Kostyuk will finally see the light.

 

[Mark-Touch]

Yes! I watch it because of the stories. Curious to see how Gauff is doing, curious whether US Open winner Raducanu will get injured at 6-3 5*-1 Korpatsch, curious whether US Open winner Andreescu is getting back some of her former invincibility, curious if Kostyuk will finally see the light.

Yes I'm interested in those matches too.
These are the players I'm most interested in tonight:
Gauff
Andreescu
Collins
Anisimova
Raducanu
Sasno-Fruity
Kenin-Azarenka
Marino

Not for any stories, just for their games.
I might peek into the occasional ATP match but for the most part it will be WTA matches.

 

[Purestriker]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1614474699110772736

Doubles draw has dropped:

All the top doubles teams along with some great teams with good singles players:

Fruhvirtova/Riske
Kudermetova/Samsonova
Babos/Mladenovic (back together at a slam for the first time since Wimbledon 2021, 4x slam winning partnership).
Collins/Watson
Fernandez/Mattek Sands.
Pavlyuchenkova/Rybakina.
Bronzetti/Cocciaretto (Bronzetti coming off a good United Cup and Cocciaretto off the Hobart final).
Bencic/Teichmann
Kenin/Putintseva (that's one fiery pairing)
Cornet/Stosur (4x ladies doubles champ Stosur's final tournament)

Interesting that Mertens is not playing with Kudermetova given how dominate they were last year. Puttes and Kenin could end up being a dumpster fire or a prime time fight.

 

[stosurforehand]

Somehow missed mentioning that the only 2 former Australian Open champs in the draw are facing eachother in the 1R.

2012 & 2013 champ Azarenka v 2020 champ Kenin.

After R1, we'll have just one former champ left. Pretty crazy.

The powerful groundstrokes of Azarenka will hopefully be too much for Kenin who I dislike. Love Aza.

 

[flyingboris]

Another match to take a peek at is the 15yo Brenda Fruhvirtova (135), the younger of the rapidly rising Fruhvirtova sisters, playing Sasnovich (38). Hoping Court 17 is streamed. Her rise seems to have been mostly by playing lots of matches against lower ranked players (and winning), so I'm thinking this will be a beatdown, but still interested to see her playing style and (early) strengths.

 

[snowwhite]

I hope Garcia wins it here.
She deserves to win a slam and it will nice for France to make up for World Cup disappointment.

 

[I Am Finnish]

I say Pegula

 

[ktx]

An embarrassment of riches for matches to watch tonight. I’m flipping around but if anyone sees one catch fire let me know.

 

[spystud]

I've had DirecTV for a long time, they've always had bonus channels for the Slams that make it incredibly easy to flip between like 5 courts. It's gone this year, likely cost-cutting, I'm very not happy.

 

[coolcamden]

Pegula is playing yet ESPN is showing Gauff. And No, I will never spend a cent to buy their streaming.

 

[HarveyPitnik]

^^^ Having the same positive problem! At the moment watching Collins - Kalinskaya as I have never seen a full match with the latter! Danimal has played some stunning points and some really poor ones - but I guess that won't surprise anyone!

Brenda F. played long and tight matches in the qualies and had some issue with her (left?) leg, so I think she will probably drop immediately against Sasnovich even though the latter haven't shown anything in several months. Brenda has been mocked for her moonballs... she certainly hit many of those against Daria Snigur in the 2nd qual round.