2011 BNP Paribas Open: Women’s Tennis Association seeds Part XII
The 2011 BNP Paribas Open is all set to begin in just a few hours. However, even though the WTA will take to the courts first, there are 32 seeded players who will not be seen on the first day. This series provides a brief analysis of these pros.
World Number 25 Yanina Wickmayer
Belgian tennis pro Yanina Wickmayer has taken part in the Indian Wells tournament twice before, playing in 2009 and 2010. She was ranked World Number 73 at the 2009 BNP Paribas Open, and joined the tournament as an unseeded player. She made it past the first
round by defeating Slovakian pro Magdalena Rybarikova. After this, she was ousted by Daniela Hantuchova in a tough three-setter in the second round.
Last year, Wickmayer was ranked World Number 15 and entered the Indian Wells event as the thirteenth seed. She received a bye in the first round of the tournament, and ousted Julia Goerges and Roberta Vinci in the second and third round respectively. She
was defeated in the fourth round by then-World Number 33 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
The last 2011 event which Wickmayer took part in was the Dubai event, where she made it to the third round after defeating Serbian Bojana Jovanovski and Australian Open runner-up Li Na. She was ousted by then-World Number 11 Shahar Peer. However, the Belgian
has been producing consistent results and will probably make it to the third round with no trouble.
World Number 26 Maria Kirilenko
Russian World Number 26 Maria Kirilenko has been part of the Women’s Tennis Association since 2001, and this will be the seventh time that she takes place in the BNP Paribas Open. She is seeded twenty-fourth at the tournament this year.
Kirilenko was ranked World Number 37 in 2009, and narrowly missed an opportunity to be a seeded player. She participated in the event as a main-draw entry, but was upset by Edina Gallovits-Hall in the first round.
Her latest showing at the tournament was last year, when she was World Number 36. Due to the absence of four other top players, she was seeded thirty-second in the last available slot. Therefore, she received a bye into the second round where she met and
successfully defeated French tennis player and then-World Number 38 Virginie Razzano. However, her success was short lived as current World Number 1 Caroline Wozniacki quickly ousted her in straight sets in the next round.
Kirilenko’s most recent appearance was at the Dubai tournament, where she lost her first round match in straight sets against Chanelle Scheepers. Her performance has been unsatisfactory since the beginning of the year, and she may not make it past her first
match.
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