The final major of the year is here, and on the women’s side all eyes are on Serena Williams- will she complete the Calendar Grand Slam? With all the big names in action, it promises to be extremely exciting and we should be gripped for the next couple of weeks- here is my prediction for the draw?
First Quarter
Projected Q/F: (1st) Serena Williams vs (8th) Karolina Pliskova
Defending champion and top seed Serena Williams is looking for her 5th grand slam title in a row, and her 4th US Open title in succession. She should be comfortable against Vitalia Diatchenko in the 1st round though could face Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the second round- she has beaten Simona Halep twice in majors and will not be afraid of the occasion. Lurking in the third round could then be 29th seed Sloane Stephens, who has previously beaten Serena and has pushed her other times. However Stephens would have to overcome the tricky Coco Vandeweghe in the 1st round, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands is also present here. Serena is seeded to face Agnieszka Radwanska in the 4th round, who she is 8-0 against and should beat comfortably here- if they meet. 19th seed Madison Keys is expected to face Radwanska in the third and is capable of beating the Pole and can match Serena for power. Radwanska could potentially face younger sister Urszula in the 2nd round.
Karolina Pliskova has been in good form overall this year, but has been poor in Stanford and has disappointed in the slams this year. She should see off a qualifier in the 1st round and then Madison Brengle or Saisai Zheng in the 2nd round, though could face the talented 31st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the 3rd round- the Russian, however, has a difficult 1st round match against Magdalena Rybarikova. Pliskova is seeded to face 12th seed Belinda Bencic in the 4th round, and considering Bencic’s form of late she’ll be a threat to everyone. She should start well against Sesil Karatantcheva and then should beat Daniela Hantuchova or Misaki Doi in the 2nd round. She is then seeded to have a blockbuster clash against 23rd seed Venus Williams, who has a potentially difficult opener against Monica Puig.
Prediction: S. Williams def Bencic
Second Quarter
Projected Q/F: (3rd) Maria Sharapova (WITHDRAWN) vs (7th) Ana Ivanovic
Unfortunately Maria Sharapova has had to withdraw. He 1st round opponent Daria Gavrilova now faces lucky loser Daria Kasatkina. Gavrilova should win that comfortably, and then should see off Ana Konjuh or Tatjana Maria in the 2nd round. She would then be expected to face 30th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 3rd round which could be tricky, though Kuznetsova hasn’t played since Wimbledon and has a tricky opener against Kiki Mladenovic. The expected 4th round opponent is 13th seed Ekaterina Makarova. Makarova also isn’t at her best at the moment though she should beat Teliana Pereira in the 1st round, though she could be tested by Heather Watson or Lauren Davis in the 2nd round and is seeded to face the in form 17th seed Elina Svitolina in the third round.
7th seed Ana Ivanovic hasn’t had a great year but showed some signs of improvement in Toronto and Cincinnati and whilst it might not be easy, she should see off Dominika Cibulkova in the 1st round. Ivanovic should also be comfortable against Alison Van Uytvanck or a qualifier in the second round, and is seeded to face 25th seed Eugenie Bouchard in the third round. Bouchard has had a horrid year and has a difficult opener against Alison Riske, with Zarina Diyas and Polona Hercog waiting in the 2nd round. Ivanovic’s expected 4th round opponent, 10th seed Carla Suarez Navarro, is in poor form of late and whilst she should see off Denisa Allertova, she could face the in form Roberta Vinci in the 2nd round and the slightly resurgent 21st seed Jelena Jankovic in the third.
Prediction: Ivanovic def Svitolina
Third Quarter
Projected Q/F: (5th) Petra Kvitova vs (4th) Caroline Wozniacki
Petra Kvitova has always been erratic, but following her diagnosis with Glandular Fever has been in poor form and is certainly vulnerable here- a place she has never particularly played well. She should start well against a qualifier though could face Lourdes Dominguez Lino (who starts against Nicole Gibbs) in the second round, who pushed her at the French Open. She is seeded to face 32nd seed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the third round, who has risen up the rankings this year and has the capability to beat the 5th seed. Also Aleksandra Kruncic, who beat Kvitova here last year, is also in this part of the draw. Kvitova is seeded to face 9th seed Garbine Muguruza in the 4th round- it will be interesting to see how Muguruza plays here after poor results following her run to the final in Wimbledon. She has however, played well at the majors this year and should see off the tricky Carina Witthoeft in the 1st round. If she wins that she should also see off Louise Chirico or a qualifier in the second round. She’s seeded to play 18th seed Andrea Petkovic in the third round but the German has a tricky opener against Caroline Garcia here.
4th seed Caroline Wozniacki hasn’t been in great form this year, but played some better tennis in New Haven and should ease past wildcard Jamie Loeb in the 1st round. She could have a difficult 2nd round match against Christina Mchale or Petra Cetkovska, and if she gets through that she is seeded to face 26th seed Flavia Pennetta- she’s 7-1 against the Italian but Pennetta does play well in New York, though she could face the tricky Monica Nicelescu in the second round. Wozniacki is seeded to play 16th seed Sara Errani in the 4th round- Errani just won one game when they played in the quarter-finals last year. The Italian should start well against a qualifier but could be tested by Annika Beck in the second round and could face former champion Sam Stosur in the 3rd round, though the 22nd seed faces Timea Babos- who beat her in Cincinnati, in the opening round.
Prediction: Muguruza def Wozniacki
Fourth Quarter
Projected Q/F: (6th) Lucie Safarova vs (2nd) Simona Halep
Lucie Safarova hasn’t been in great form since her run to the French Open final but reached the final of New Haven last week and beat her first round opponent here, Lesia Tsurenko, in the semi-finals last week. Assuming she’s sees off Tsurenko again, the 6th seed should then beat Kirsten Filpkens or Vavara Lepchenko and also beat her expected 3rd round opponent, 28th seed Irina-Camelia Begu, in New Haven last week. She is then expected to face 11th seed Angelique Kerber in 4th round, which would be a very difficult match for Safarova. Kerber should see off Alexandra Dulgheru in the first round and then Aija Tomljanovic or Karin Knapp in the second round. However she is seeded to have a very dangerous opponent in the third round- 20th seed Victoria Azarenka. The former world No. 1 should beat Lucie Hradecka in the 1st round and then Yanina Wickmayer or Francesca Schiavone in the 2nd round. However Azarenka has struggled with injuries in the past 20 months, and could be vulnerable.
2nd seed Simona Halep has played well of late, reaching the final in Toronto and Cincinnati, and is certainly in good form coming into Flushing Meadows. She should see off Maria Erakovic in the 1st round and then should also be comfortable against Yulia Putintseva and Kateryna Bondarenko. However she could have difficulty in the 3rd round as she is seeded to face 27th seed Alize Cornet- Cornet won their last meeting in Madrid. Cornet should see off Kurumi Nara in the 1st round and then Shelby Rogers or Sascha Vickery in the 2nd round, though she can be extremely erratic. Halep is seeded to face 14th seed Timea Bacsinszky in the 4th round, and whilst Bacsinszky has been in good form this year she has lost all her three matches since Wimbledon. She doesn’t have an easy opening match against Barbora Strycova, but is she comes through that she should be much more comfortable against Qiang Wang or Maria Sakkari in the 2nd round. She could also face the 24th seed Sabine Lisicki in the 3rd round. Lisicki should be comfortable against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the 1st round, but could be tested by Camila Giorgi in the 2nd round.
Prediction: Halep def Kerber
Semi-Finals
Williams def Ivanovic
Halep def Muguruza
Final
Williams def Halep
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