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Will Auckland Become @CocoGauff Land? 2020 @WTA @ASB_Classic Auckland Preview, Predictions

Posted by Admin on January 5, 2020

Posted in: Auckland, Australian Open, WTA. Tagged: 2020 WTA Tour, Amanda Anisimova, ASB Classic, australian open, Australian Tennis, caroline wozniacki, Coco Gauff, serena williams, Sofia Kenin, Svetlana Kuznetsova, WTA Auckland. Leave a comment

Will Auckland Become @CocoGauff Land? 2020 @WTA @ASB_Classic Auckland Preview, Predictions
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

Coco Gauff (Photo: Citi Open)

Or will it be like old times again with Serena and Wozniacki meeting in the final?

The 2020 Coco Gauff tour is almost underway. The ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand is stacked with the aforementioned former grand slam champions and a dose of the youth movement. Not too shabby for a WTA International level event.

Gauff, who is amazingly still 15 years old, looks to play her first pro match down under. It’s hard to believe that she made her pro debut just last year in Miami before shocking the world with stellar play at Wimbledon and the US Open. Down Under has been patiently waiting for a chance to join her carnival of tennis enthusiasm. Gauff will have a tough opening round match against 21-year-old Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova, where she’s a favored -149, and assuming Gauff prevails, she’ll likely face Serena Williams in Round 2.

Svetlana Kuznetsova (Photo: (C) 2014 Chris Levy @tennis_shots for TennisEastCoast.com)

Or will she? Outside of the American teen sensation, all the buzz is about the first-round match between grand slam champs with a lot of mutual history. Serena Williams and Sveta Kuznetsova have met 13 times, and although Serena holds a 10-3 edge on the 2004 US Open champ, anyone who follows women’s tennis knows that Kuznetsova can beat anyone when she’s in form. With Serena at -400 in the match, this could be a nice upset pick.

Amanda Anisimova’s quarter co-stars Caroline Garcia, who should meet in the quarterfinals with Anisimova advancing to a semifinal against Serena Williams. Garcia’s game hasn’t inspired a lot of confidence lately, and she’s even money against Taylor Townsend in the opening round. I’m going to stand by Garcia, though, as she’d only need to beat the winner of Flipkens-Bouchard to reach the quarters.

Wozniacki

Julia Goerges is the 4 seed and her quarter is shared by 5^th seeded Caroline Wozniacki. It’s highly likely that they’ll meet in the quarterfinals here, a rematch of last year’s Auckland final. I expect Wozniacki to fight right up through her supposed final grand slam in Melbourne Park to go out with a bang and I’d take her to advance to a semifinal and to contest Serena Williams in the final.

Petra Martic doesn’t get any respect as a top 20 player, as least not from me yet. I’ve been watching her fail to qualify or get knocked out of the first round of too many tournaments to mention. And her quarter is full of spoilers, like Alize Cornet, Bec Peterson, Alison Van Uytvanck and American Cici Bellis. I see Bellis surprising Martic in the quarterfinals before falling to Wozniacki in the semis. That said, the oddsmakers have installed Martic as a -149 favorite in her opener against Van Uytvanck. You’d expect a little more confidence in a 2 seed.

The fans in Auckland should get a two-fer, as they’ll see a Serena Williams-Coco Gauff battle, but they should also be so fortunate as to be gifted a blast from the past final, with Serena Williams besting Caroline Wozniacki to win her first tour title of any kind since the memorable 2017 Australian Open.

WTA Brisbane, Shenzen, and Auckland Round-Up: Azarenka, Stephens and Radwanska Claim Titles
Niall Clarke, Tennis Atlantic

The new season is officially underway and i the opening week the WTA crowned three champions in Brisbane, Shenzhen and Auckland respectively, Amongst the tennis there was some big injury withdrawals. Simona Halep, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova are just a few names that either failed to take to the court or complete their first match-up of the season.

That did not stop the players from putting on some great tennis action to get us going for 2016. Here is a recap of what happened in the WTA this week.

Azarenka romps to Brisbane title

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Perhaps the most stand-out performer of the week was former world number one Azarenka. The Belarusian stormed through her draw to get 2016 off to the perfect start with a Premier title.

Azarenka looked more like her old self, dictating play from the baseline and being as feisty as ever. Despite dominating her opponents all week, the two time Australian Open champion saved her best tennis until the final.
The former world number one hit 23 winners and only nine unforced errors as she cruised past Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s final 6-3, 6-1.

The win marked Azarenka’s 18th career title, but it was her first for two and a half years after injury struggles in recent seasons.

“Congratulations to Angelique and thank you for pushing me – you always push my limits. I hope we get to play more matches soon and good luck the rest of the year.” Azarenka said in her post match interview.
“Every time I play in front of this crowd I couldn’t be happier.
“My dreams come true whenever I step on the court, and I want to thank you all for showing up, motivating us so much and inspiring us so much.”
With her performance this week, the Belarusian has established herself as a huge threat for the Australian Open.

Stephens claims Auckland crown

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Across in New Zealand America’s Sloane Stephens picked up her second career WTA title after pulling double duty on Saturday. Due to the rain on Friday, the fifth seed was forced to continue her semi final match-up with Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday with a 5-2 first set lead. Despite the delay to her momentum, Stephens picked up where she left off the previous day, rounding off the victory 6-2, 7-6(3).

Still on a high from her semi final victory, the world number 30 went on to defeat Germany’s Julia Goerges 7-5, 6-2 despite the German being fresher of the two players. The key was her dominance on serve, holding in all 10 of her service games and only facing two break points.

“You can never prepare for playing a set and then rain, then finishing the match the next morning and coming back again in the afternoon. You just have to keep going and do your best,” Stephens said.

“Julia had been playing some really great tennis all week, but I knew if I just kept playing solid I could do it. I was pleased the way I was able to pull myself together and come back and play well.
“Just kind of going with the flow – that was pretty much it. Pretty basic.”
Despite having enormous talent, Stephens has failed to kick on since her breakthrough run to the Australian Open semi finals in 2013. After claiming her first title in Washington last year and adding to her collection here, will 2016 be the year Sloane finally enters the elite?

“We have a really long season – I have to play all the way until October – so to win a tournament in the first week of the year is amazing,” Stephens added. “But I’m going to have many more opportunities throughout the year, and I’m looking forward to all of them. It’s easier to look at it that way.”

Radwanska storms to Shenzhen title

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Agnieszka Radwanska capped off her ranking climb to number four in the world by capturing the Shenzhen title.
After finishing 2015 in perfect fashion with victory at the WTA finals, the Pole started the new just the same. Radwanska played almost flawless tennis as she dispatched every opponent including the eventual runner-up Alison Riske.

It took the new world number four only one hour and 16 minutes to claim a 6-3, 6-2 victory over the American on Saturday.

I think Alison was really playing solid tennis today,” Radwanska said in her post match interview. “She has a very powerful game from the baseline – I was really struggling from the baseline. I was really in a lot of trouble there.
“But my serve really helped me today. Also in the deciding points I was a little bit better, and I think that’s why the score was the way it was – it made it look easier than the actual match was.”

It was Radwanska’s 18th career title, but more importantly she has passed Maria Sharapova in the rankings to earn a top four seeding at the Australian Open, meaning she avoids Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza before the semi finals.

Niall Clarke (Sofia)

With the new season finally upon us, the WTA is hosting three tournaments to kick off 2016 in style. With tournaments in Brisbane and Shenzhen also taking place this week, the WTA goes to the island of New Zealand for the ASB Classic in Auckland.

The season opener started back in 1985 for the start of the 1986 season and has been a staple on the calendar ever since.

Previous champions include Marion Bartoli, Lindsay Davenport, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Agnieszka Radwanska, Ana Ivanovic and last year’s winner Venus Williams.

The ASB Classic

Tier: International
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Surface: Hard
Prize Money: $226,750
Date: January 4th-10^th 2016

The eight seeded players (Ranking)

Venus Williams (7)
2. Ana Ivanovic (16)
3. Caroline Wozniacki (17)
4. Svetlana Kuznetsova (25)
5. Sloane Stephens (30)
6. Coco Vandeweghe (37)
7. Barbora Strycova (42)
8. Alison Van Uytvanck (44)

All the seeds ranks inside the top 50 with three former grand slam champions and a former world number one set to compete.

First round matches to watch

(4) Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Mona Barthel

Kuznetsova had the misfortune of drawing the next highest ranked player outside of the seeds in the opening round, Mona Barthel.

The German is known as an underachiever, being blessed with plenty of talent but has seemingly been unable to translate it into the desired results. Kuznetsova on the other hand is a former grand slam champion but t 30 years of age, can she reproduce that form?

An interesting round one here with two inconsistent players which means it could go either way. Don’t be surprised to see the fourth seed flounder at the first hurdle.

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(3) Caroline Wozniacki vs Danka Kovinic

There is an argument that the top players are potentially most vulnerable at the start of the season having not played for a few months. Can Kovinic take advantage and claim the scalp of the former world number one?

Wozniacki did not enjoy the best of 2015’s, finishing outside the top 10. But the former world number one must not be under-estimated. She is still one of the best defenders on tour and difficult to break down.

That is the task ahead of her 21 year old opponent who enjoyed her bests season to date in 2015. The Montenegrin almost broke the top 50 last year, and a win over Wozniacki will give her a huge confidence boost to start the season.

Draw Analysis

First Quarter: Top seed Venus Williams is back to defend her title after a small resurgence in 2015. The former world number one will kick her season off against Daria Kasatkina in the opening round. If the American predictably makes round two, she will face the winner of Mariana Duque Marino vs Nao Hibino. It would be a huge shock if Venus does not make the quarter finals.

Barbora Strycova’s 2015 did not go as planned as she surrendered her top 30 place to finish just inside the top 50. The Czech however enjoyed the Fed Cup success and will be hoping to translate that form into 2016. The seventh seed opens against a qualifier, but Lucie Hradecka or Julia Goerges could throw a spanner in the works in round two.

Second Quarter: Kuznetsova on the other hand will want to re-kindle old glory in 2016 after a respectable 2015 that saw her finish inside the top 30. The Russian has a difficult round one against Barthel with round two proving much easier for the winner against a semi retired Francesca Schiavone or a qualifier.

Coco Vandeweghe is one of the many Americans in the draw, but she is still searching for her major breakthrough. She made a good run at Wimbledon last year on a surface that suits her game but the courts here are slower, will that impact her effectiveness? It is an all American round one against Irina Falconi with Bethanie Mattek Sands likely for round two- Plenty for the American fans to enjoy.

Third quarter: Wozniacki lost her top 10 status in 2015 but her quest to regain her position amongst the elite starts in Auckland against Kovinic. If there aren’t enough Americans in the draw, Christina McHale is possible for round two against the winner providing she can defeat Misaki Doi.

Talented Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck is name that may be familiar due to her quarter final run at Roland Garros last year. However she has not built on that run, will 2016 be her time to break through? Van Uytvanck faces Alexandra Dulgheru in the opening round. Home favourite Marina Erakovic or Yulia Putintseva await the winner.

Fourth Quarter: Like Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic lost her top 10 status last year, finishing 15^th in the world. The Serbian will kick off her 2016 season against a qualifier before meeting Jelena Ostapenko or Joanna Larsson- a good draw for the second seed Sloane Stephens completes the American line up for Auckland as the fifth seed. She only has one title to her name, can she add a second here? Stephens opens against Hercog before meeting the winner of Witthoeft vs Maria. A decent little section here.

Predictions

Quarter Finals:

Williams def. Goerges

Barthel def. Mattek Sands

Wozniacki def. Erakovic

Ivanovic def. Stephens

Semi Finals:

Williams def. Barthel

Ivanovic def. Wozniacki

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Final:

Williams def. Ivanovic

I have gone for the defending champion again. Williams showed superb form at the end of the season and won the title last year for a reason. A good run for Barthel to the semi finals too with Ivanovic being the defeated finalist.

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Niall Clarke (Sofia)