2011 Australian Open: Top twelve seeds in women’s singles – Part 1
With the Australian Open 2011 starting this Monday in Melbourne, Bettor.com takes a look at the top twelve seeds on the women’s side.
1. Caroline Wozniacki
The 20-year-old Dane has been named as the number one seed in Australian Open 2011.
World number one Caroline was the most consistent player on the Women Tennis Association tour in 2010 without any question. However, her top seeding in Melbourne raises a couple of eyebrows as Kim Clijsters of Belgium had a better year overall, when she
won the US Open for the third time. Moreover, Kim also got the better of Caroline at the season-ender in Doha.
We still hope that things turn out well for Wozniacki and she successfully picks up her first Grand Slam title to prove her critics wrong.
2. Vera Zvonareva
The Russian tennis ace, who made her debut on the WTA tour back in 2000, had a blockbuster 2010 season. She achieved her highest career ranking of world number two in October 2010. Moreover, the right-hander also reached two Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon
and US Open, finishing runner-up on both occasions.
Therefore, she is definitely one of the hot favourites to win the title in Melbourne.
3. Kim Clijsters
The Belgian has been placed in the bottom half of the main draw. Clijsters, who is seeded number three, is the bookmakers’ hot favourite at the Australian Open. She will play her first round match at Melbourne against former world number one Dinara Safina.
The world number three could not go beyond the third round in 2010, however, she is currently enjoying an excellent form and is definitely going to prove a major threat for all the top seeds out there.
The 2010 US Open winner has so far reached the title battle in Melbourne once and semi-final round four times in her career.
4. Venus Williams
World number five Venus Williams from the United States of America can of course not take the place of her younger sister Serena Williams. However, the world will still look up to her without any measure of speculations.
Women’s tennis is full of surprises and who knows this time, Venus might turn out to be one of the biggest surprises of 2011.
5. Samantha Stosur
The 26-year-old Samantha Stosur is the only local seed at the Australian Open 2011. She will undoubtedly be the crowd’s favourite.
Stosur, who is currently ranked number six in the world, may not be the top favourite in the presence of Clijsters, Wozniacki and Zvonareva, however, she can be very good on her day.
The Australian reached the fourth round in 2010 after posting victories over Han Xinyun, Kristina Barrois and Alberta Brianti before losing at the hands of defending champion Serena Williams in straight sets.
6. Francesca Schiavone
If the Italian plays in the manner she did at the French Open 2010, no one can stop her from winning her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open 2011.
Schiavone, who is currently ranked number seven in the world, stunned everyone back in 2010 by reaching all the way to her career’s first major final and eventually winning it in the end at Roland Garros.
The right-hander has already started her season on the tour as she played at the Hopman Cup where the Italian after dismissing Laura Robson was beaten by Bethanie Mattek Sands.
Continued in part 2…
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