Chunky Predictions: Women in the Australian Open

Begining with the Quarter Finals:

Q1: Henin v. Davenport = Henin to Semis
(this will require Henin defeating Venus Williams in the Round of 16, and a tough match between Davenport and Kuznetsova in the Round of 16, as well)

Q2: Serena Williams v. Dementieva = Serena to Semis
(this is a complicated result: Serena comes up against Sharapova in the Round of 16, and hopefully will upset her; I also am thinking that Dementieva will upset Petrova, so basically neither Serena nor Dementieva are seeded to reach the Quarters but I hope they both will…the other lurker in this Quarter is Serbian Jelena Jankovic, who could defeat Dementieva in the Third Round, and herself come up against Petrova in the Round of 16, with the winner of that match going on to play the winner of the Serena v. Sharapova Round of 16 match)

Q3: Mauresmo v. Schneyder = Mauresmo to Semis
(this is according to the seeding – I think there is a chance Myskina could upset Schneyder in the Round of 16, but I’d still pick Mauresmo over Myskina)

Q4: Clijsters v. Hingis = Hingis to Semis
(ok, now, this one takes a lot of explanation: first of all, Hingis is my favourite player EVER, as I already mentioned, so I have to pick her to win some things that might not be the smartest bet; this is one of those cases…Hingis has a tough first round match against the most unstable on-court personality I have ever seen – and I totally feel for her for that lol – Vera Zvonareva; if Hingis makes it past Zvonareva, then I think she’s good until the Third Round where she’ll meet Mary Pierce; if Hingis beats Pierce, then I think she’ll also survive her Round of 16 Match and make it to the Quarters…in that sense, I’m optimistic: Hingis needs to beat Zvonareva and Pierce and she’s in the Quarters!...that’s the top half of this quarter…in the other half, you have Clijsters as the clear favourite, except that her hip and her back might be a little messed up, which I’m hoping will carry her through to the Quarters, if Italian Francesca Schiavone – the most Italian woman EVER – doesn’t upset her in the Round of 16, but hopefully a little injured, too…which would allow Hingis to upset her in the Quarters – or flat-out beat Schiavone if Clijsters is upset earlier)

This leaves the Semis as: Henin v. Serena and Mauresmo v. Hingis. It makes me salivate. I think that, while BOTH are rusty, Henin and Hingis can both pull it out, which puts Henin and Hingis in my dream final.

Sadly for my #1 Swiss star, I’m picking Henin for the final, but I think it’s *enough* of a success story (for now, at least) for Hingis to make it to the finals of the Australian Open.

VC