AUSSIE OPEN 2010: Women's Top 10 Preview

Here are Mad Professah's predictions for the Top 10 women's seeds at the 2010 Australian Open:

1. Serena Williams, United States. The past, current and future World #1 has won this tournament four times (2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009) but I do not think she will not win this year because she has not defended a grand slam title since 2003 (Wimbledon) and also has not won two consecutive slams since that year. Her movement was clearly affected negatively by a left knee injury in the finals of the Sydney tournament against Elena Dementieva and if she is not 100% she will not even get as far into the draw as I suspect. If she does make it to the second week, I will probably revise my pre-tournament prediction, but at this moment I would not consider her the favorite in Melbourne. Quarterfinalist.
2. Dinara Safina, Russia. Last year's finalist has a permanent brain injury which seems to afflict several of the top Russian players (c.f. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva) but can be overcome (c.f. Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova). Safina is somehow the #2 player in the world but if she lasts in a round higher than her seeding, mouths will be agape worldwide. Early Round Loss.
3. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia. The 2009 French Open Champion clearly has the game to win the title but many of the Russians seem to wilt in the heat of the Australian summer and Kuznetsova is no exception, she has never been past the quarterfinals, last year losing in that round to eventual champion Serena Williams. This year she is in the killer quarter of the draw with Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Elena Dementieva. Sveta will have a blockbuster 4th round match-up which she is unlikely to come away the victor. Fourth Round.
4. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark. The teenaged 2009 U.S. Open finalist is new to the absolute top echelon of women's tennis but I believe she will remain there for quite a long time. She has a pretty good chance of getting deep in the draw this year, but I think she is unlikely to get past the top player in the bottom half of the draw. Quarterfinalist.
5. Elena Dementieva, Russia. Oh, Elena! After playing the best women's match of 2009 I truly believe that 2010 should be Elena's breakthrough year. Long recognized as having the best groundstrokes and movement of any of the Russian stars, Dementieva has been to two major finals where she was let down by her embarassment of a serve. Happily, those days are (mostly) behind her and the number of opportunities that she will have to get into the record books as a Grand Slam champion are rapidly disappearing. Although she does not have a tremendously amenable draw (she will need to get through Henin, Yanina Wickmayer, Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova just to make the final) if she does make it through to the championship match, this time she will not falter, regardless of who her opponent is. Champion.
6. Venus Williams, United States. I will freely admit that this prediction is influenced by my love for the older Williams sister but I also think Venus has a good chance to get to the final. Of course, it is just as likely that Venus could lose in the first round against the fearless, hard-hitting Lucie Safarova. However, assuming she deals with that initial challenge, she will only need to get past people she can overpower like Sybille Bammer, Karolina Sprem and Aggie Radwanska before she meets hard-hitters like Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka. Finalist.
7. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus. The "next Maria Sharapova" was up a set and a break against eventual champion Serena Williams last year before the ice princess melted in the scorching Australia sun and had to be helped off the court with heat exhaustion. Azarenka is in a section of the draw where she should finally be able to be able to do some definite damage, but there are some other potentially fragile players (mentally: Zvonareva and Ivanovic) and (physically: Serena) year who are standing in her way. Semifinalist.
8. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia. The former World #1 player has not had much success at the Grand Slam level lately, but she has a dream draw and I'm sure she is still hungry to make some noise at a major. She and 2008 Australian Open Champion Maria Sharapova are on a collision for the quarterfinal berth. Frankly I would not be surprised to see the It Girl take it, but I think the Serb will be hungrier.
9. Vera Zvonareva, Russia. Last year's semifinalist has the game to power through several rounds, but only when she gets confident and puts together a winning streak, and that's not where she is right now. Early Round Loss.
10. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland. Widely regarded as "Martina Hingis, version 2.0" Radwanska often finds her way deep into a major, but she simply lacks a single fear-inspiring weapon, thus fatally limiting her chances to advance to a round that would match or exceed her seeding in most majors. Fourth Round.

I know I am going out on a limb with these predictions, but that's half the fun. For Craig Hickman's, see here. Most other tennis watchers like Jon Wertheim think that Serena will be able to pull off a title defense, and that would delight me and my friends who flew down to Melbourne to see this year's matches, to know end.

We'll know soon. Game on!