Tennis Atlantic

Because Matches Are Never Played in the Media Tent

  • Home
  • About/Contact
    • Meet Our Journalists And Contributing Professionals
    • Advertising Inquiries and Partnership Opportunities
  • Steen Kirby (Editor/ATP)
  • Steve Fogleman (Editor/ATP/WTA)
  • Niall Clarke (WTA/ATP)

2015 WTA Brisbane Preview and Predictions

Posted by Admin on January 3, 2015
Posted in: Brisbane, Niall Clarke, WTA. Tagged: 2015 WTA, 2015 WTA Brisbane, 2015 WTA Tour, ana ivanovic, andrea petkovic, angelique kerber, Brisbane 2015, Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, Brisbane Prediction, Brisbane Preview, Brisbane Tennis, Brisbane Women's Tennis, Dominika Cibulkova, Garbine Muguruza, Kaia Kanepi, Karolina Pliskova, madison keys, maria sharapova, Sam Stosur, Varvara Lepchenko, Victoria Azarenka, Womens Tennis, wta, WTA Brisbane, WTA Brisbane Prediction, WTA Brisbane Preview, WTA Prediction, WTA Preview, WTA Tour, WTA Tour 2015.

2015 WTA Brisbane Preview and Predictions
Niall Clarke, Tennis Atlantic

2015 WTA Brisbane Preview

It’s here, it’s finally here! The start of the new tennis season has arrived, and there aren’t many better places to start than Brisbane. The Queensland capital has hosted its own tournament since 2009 as a joint event between the ATP and WTA. It went from an International event to a Premier event in 2012, with the prize money increasing to $1 million in that time. It’s the ideal place to kick off a new season with the world’s best competing for the title. Grand Slam champions such as Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova and Kim Clijsters have previously won the season opener. However, none of those three mentioned have entered the tournament this year, so we have only one ex-champion in the draw; Kaia Kanepi. Therefore the chances of a new champion being crowned at Brisbane are high. The 2015 season promises to be a special one, and we hope you follow all the action on Tennis Atlantic.

WTA Brisbane
Brisbane International presented by Suncorp 

WTA Premier Series*
Brisbane, Australia
January 4-January 10, 2015
Prize Money: $1,000,000

*denotes joint ATP/WTA event

Top 4 seeds (Top two seeds receive first round byes) (WTA ranking in parentheses)
1: Maria Sharapova (2)
2: Ana Ivanovic (5)
3: Angelique Kerber (9)
4: Dominika Cibulkova (10)

A strong seeding line up, with eight top 20 players and 3 former world number ones.

First round matchups to watch:

Embed from Getty Images

Victoria Azarenka vs. Karolina Pliskova

A classic serve vs return match-up here. Karolina Pliskova brings one of the best serves on tour, and Azarenka brings one of the best returns on tour. Which one will dominate the match? That’s the question that will decide the winner of this match. There are also question marks about the level Azarenka will show here after an injury hit 2014. Will the Azarenka of old show up here? Or will the Czech defeat last years finalist?

Sam Stosur vs. Varvara Lepchenko

Any match involving the ‘Home’ player is interesting. Add a grand slam title, and a dangerous opponent and you get one of the most intriguing round one matches. Sam Stosur brings one of the most dynamic games on the tour, as she hits with a heavy amount of top spin. Vavara Lepchenko hits a very flat and her main weapon is her forehand, so you have a forehand orientated match here. Will the spin of Stosur be too much for the flat hitting of Lepchenko? This match has potential to go the distance, and the potential to silence the home crowd.

(4)Dominika Cibulkova vs. Madison Keys

One of the tour’s hottest prospects vs the 2014 Australian Open finalist. Sounds mouth-watering doesn’t it? Cibulkova couldn’t have asked for a more difficult first round tie, as Madison Keys brings huge power and a big serve to the court. However, the Slovak brings her own weapons to the fray and if she hits 2014 Australian Open form, Keys could be in for a long night. A close match here that could go either way, so don’t be surprised if the number 4 seed is dumped out in the first round.

(5)Andrea Petkovic vs. Kaia Kanepi
In this first round clash, you have a former top 10 player in Petkovic vs a former winner in Brisbane, Kaia Kanepi. Both will look to take control in the rallies and dominate from the back of the court. This match will come down to who can do that better, and who can take the initiative. Petkovic will be the favourite, but you would be a fool to count out Kanepi.

Top Half:

Number one seed Maria Sharapova will go into the tournament as the favourite to win the title. The 5 time grand slam champions has received a bye into the second round due to her seeding. She will face either a qualifier or Sabine Lisicki in the second round, both could potentially be dangerous. Lisicki has shown great grass form over her career, but has struggled to translate that form onto other surfaces. However The German is still very dangerous and could cause problems. Sharapova will likely battle her way to the quarter finals where she is set to face Carla Suarez Navarro. The Spaniard could cause the number one seed some problems, but Sharapova will fancy herself to make the semi finals here.

The number 3 seed, Angelique Kerber has a potential banana skin tie in the first round when she faces Caroline Garcia. The French woman has caused problems for top 10 players in the past, but Kerber should get through a tricky first round clash. From there she will likely face Jelena Jankovic in the quarter finals in one of the more interesting potential matches in Brisbane. It will likely be a three setter, but I believe Kerber is currently the better player and will squeak past the Serb.

Bottom half:

4th seed Dominika Cibulkova has a difficult match against highly touted youngster, Madison Keys in the first round. I can see an upset there, so Keys advances to face Stosur in the second round.  Stosur will use the home crowd advantage to make the quarter finals where she will face another highly touted youngster Garbine Muguruza. The Spaniard has a potentially difficult path to the Quarter Finals, where she could face Victoria Azarenka. However, I think Garbine will have enough skill about her to reach the semi finals here.

Number 2 seed Ana Ivanovic receives a bye into the second round, where she will face Jarmila Gadjosova or Shuai Zhang. Ivanovic should get through that match fairly comfortably to set up a match against Petkovic or Kanepi (Most likely). Both of these potential opponents can be tricky and will give the Serb a good match, but Ivanovic will most likely make the semi finals here.

Embed from Getty Images

Predictions

Semis:
Sharapova def. Kerber
Ivanovic def. Muguruza

The top two seeds will squeeze past their semi final opponents in 3 sets to set up a top 5 clash for the title.

Final:
Sharapova def. Ivanovic

The final will be highly fought contest that will raise both players blood pressure a few notches (You got the joke, right?). Sharapova will, in typical Sharapova fashion, battle back to win the final in 3 sets.

Be sure to read the recap here on Tennis Atlantic after the tournament has finished

Tennis Atlantic Niall Clarke (Sofia)

Advertisement

Bounce this around the court:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posts navigation

← 2015 ATP Brisbane Preview and Predictions
2015 WTA Auckland and Shenzhen Preview and Predictions →
  • Our Tweets

    My Tweets
  • Blogroll

    • BATennis World
    • Brit Watch Sports
    • Carretennis
    • Last Word on Sports Tennis
    • Matchstat: Tennis Stats
    • Mens Tennis Forums
    • NYT: Straight Sets
    • Parenting Aces
    • Steve G Tennis
    • Tennis Abstract
    • Tennis Now
    • Tennis Panorama
    • Tennis Results
    • Tennis View Magazine
    • Tennis World USA
    • The Grandstand
    • The Tennis Nerds
    • World Tennis Magazine
    • Zoo Tennis
  • Like Us On Facebook

    Like Us On Facebook
  • Most Read Posts This Week

    • Players Can Now Learn To Slice, Volley and Serve Like the Pros With New Grip MD
      Players Can Now Learn To Slice, Volley and Serve Like the Pros With New Grip MD
    • Taylor Townsend Takes Two Titles, Five Towels
      Taylor Townsend Takes Two Titles, Five Towels
    • Agassi/Graf's "Son" Stuns Boys 16s in Carson Spring Championships #USTA
      Agassi/Graf's "Son" Stuns Boys 16s in Carson Spring Championships #USTA
    • Sizzling Sijsling Cool Under Pressure, Lisicki Knocks Out Keys
      Sizzling Sijsling Cool Under Pressure, Lisicki Knocks Out Keys
    • CourtThink Brings Tennis to The Strip in Las Vegas
      CourtThink Brings Tennis to The Strip in Las Vegas
  • SWIG Flasks: Mans’ Best Friend

  • Click "Subscribe" to follow Tennis Atlantic and receive notifications and links to our latest content via email.

  • Tennis Live Scores 24/7 on Flashscore.com

Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Follow Following
    • Tennis Atlantic
    • Join 98 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Tennis Atlantic
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: