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Aussie Open 2016 Draw: Can Serena win another majors? Nope

2016 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

FIRST HALF

FIRST QUARTER

No. 1 Serena Williams hasn’t played since the US Open, so she is pretty raw. Plus, she was hurt 10 days ago due to her knee, so it’s very hard to tell whether she will be ready. She said that she feels “130 percent.” If so, she can win seven matches winning 6-0, 6-0. She is that good.

However, I don’t think she is 100 percent, not even 90 percent. She is super vulnerable. She could lose against Camilla Giorgi in the first set, yet while the Italian can strike the ball, she is inconsistent mentally. She could be troubled against Su-Wei Hsieh in the second round, or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the third round, but she scrape past them. But in the Round of 16 – she is gone against her close friend Caro Wozniacki. Time after time, Caro has been close but she has seasoned up. This week, the Danish will finally yank her around and make her very tired. Serena will throw a few dozen unforced errors and she will wave goodbye. It happens – for everyone.

Maria Sharapova will be in the quarter, and if she had to face Williams once again, she could be shaky on court as she has lost so many times against her. But no matter. Sharapova has to reach the quarters first and she became hurt [everybody seems to be hurt] in Brisbane While she is feeling fine, she might not be 100 prix vrai cialis percent. We will see. However, Sharapova looked very good at the WTA Finals and the Fed Cup final. She seems relax and eager. She has a fine draw until the fourth round, when she will have to face Belinda Bencic or Svetlana Kuznetsova. The 18-year-old Bencic is coming hard, while Kuznetsova played a terrific contest in Sydney. Sharapova wants it more though, but she knows that if she can win a couple more majors, she has to do it soon.

SEMIFINAL: Sharapova

GREAT FIRST ROUND:

Bencic vs. Alison Riske

Allegedly, Bencic said she was ill a couple of day ago and had to pull out in Sydney. Now she has to face the hard-hitting American Riske who is playing well on the hard courts. A true toss-up.

SECOND QUARTER

During the fall, Aga Radwanska really came alive, winning the WTA Finals. She won a tournament last week, too. While she certainly is not the out-and-out favorite, she is way up there. It’s time for the No. 4 Radwanska to finally shine and win a Slam. However, it won’t be easy. She will open up against Christina McHale, who can by super steady, then against Genie Bouchard, who can be super aggressive, and then against Sam Stosur, who can crush her heavy forehand. But the cagey Radwanska will figure it out. In the Round of 16 she will face Sloane Stephens, who won Auckland and that could be tough, assuming whether the American can figure it out. Let’s assume she will, and they will contest a very long match, but in the end, Radwanska will kiss the lines when it counts the most. Who will the Polish face in the quarters? In the other section, no one is playing healthy or playing well. (Petra Kvitova is ill once again.) How about Carla Suarez Navarro? but it doesn’t matter as Radwanska will beat her easily.

SEMIFINAL: Radwanska

GREAT FIRST ROUND:

Dominica Cibulkova vs. Kristina Mladenovic

The former finalist Cibulkova loves the tournament and will go all out to prove that she can reach top 10 again. The No. 28 Mladenovic is improving slowly but surely, plus she is a fine net charger.

BOTTOM HALF

THIRD QUARTER

Vika will find her old form in Melbourne. Mal Taam/MALTphoto

The bottom half is substantially weaker, but there are some excellent competitors. Here, Vika Azarenka and Garbine Muguruza will face each of the in the Round of 16. The No. 7 Angie Kerber has a very easy draw until the quarters, unless she gets nervous, which she won’t – yet. Azarenka will have to face Elina Svitolina in the third round, which could be tough as the Ukrainian can be very fast and hustle. But Azarenka was extremely impressive in winning Brisbane and she’s ready to try and win a Slam. No. 3 Muguruza has been hurt, but she is so strong and smarter now. Caroline Garcia can trouble her, but the Spaniard doesn’t disappear at times, which the Frenchwoman does. Yes, Muguruza can reach the final here, but Garbine appears to be a little bit nervous, while Azarenka seems very happy. The two-time Grand Slam champion at the AO will stop Muguruza, and then chop up Kerber, whom she beat in the Brisbane final. Azarenka can hit the hell out of the ball.

SEMIFINAL: Azarenka

GREAT FIRST ROUND

Elina Svitolina vs. Victoria Duval

The 20-year-old Duval is now ready to dance. Svitolina thinks she can reach the top 10 this year. It should be a true battle.

FOURTH QUARTER

Even though Simona Halep lost in the semifinals of Sydney in three long sets against Kuznetsova, at least she felt like her body held up and she didn’t feel hurt anymore. Time will tell, but if she is feeling good, she can actually win the Aussie Open for the first time. At first, she will have to run for a long time, against Alize Cornet in the second round (who won Hobart) and No. 31 Lesia Tsurenko in the third round. Halep will reach the Round of 16, when she will face Madison Keys (I would said Ana Ivanovic, but the Serbian did nothing at Auckland and Sydney), who can crush the ball. Keys haven’t done much since the summer and she will have to prove that she is ready to knock out the elite competitors. Halep will dig her out. In the quarters, Halep will go face Karolina Pliskova, who has so much potential, but the Czech can get down on herself, just like when she lost against Halep in Sydney. It was close, but Pliskova wasn’t patient enough. The No. 9 Pliskova could lose early because she can up and down mentally, but she will topple No. 8 Venus Williams in the fourth round. The 35-year-old Venus can reach the quarters, or even the semis, but it’s hard to see that. So many years ago, in 2003, Venus reached the final at the AO against Serena and she was right there. She was so close in the third set and just let it go. After that, she never reached a AO final again. I would be shocked if Venus manages to dominate during the next two weeks. Halep will get through into the semis, out stroking Pliskova once again.

SEMIFINAL: Simona Halep

GREAT FIRST ROUND

Venus vs. Johanna Konta.

Remember when the Britain stunned Muguruza and Andrea Petkovic at the US Open before she lost to Kvitova? Pretty good stuff. She will push Venus super hard—and then she will lose in three sets.

The Australian Open 2016 Draw: Can anyone upset Djokovic?

2016 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

FIRST HALF

FIRST QUARTER

Novak Djokovic is a heavy favorite, essentially dominating the hard courts. He has won the Aussie Open five times, having won in 2015 over Andy Murray in the final. Last year on the hard courts outdoors, he also won Indian Wells, Miami, the US Open, Beijing and Shanghai. Last week, he won Doha, destroying Rafa Nadal. Can anyone touch him? Probably not, but eventually, everyone can lose.

Djokovic will face the rising Hyeon Chung in the first round, which could be interesting, but Novak has much more experience. He should face Ivan Dodig, who can grind you, but he is simply stronger. He should thrash Andreas Seppi in R3, and in the R4, throw in Gilles Simon, who can be cagey, but he can’t out hit him. In the quarters, he will likely face Kei Nishikori, but the Japanese could go down against Benoit Paire, who beat him Tokyo. Jo Tsonga is around ,but he hasn’t done anything lately. Djokovic will clash against Nishikori and he realizes that if he wants to win a major for the first time, he really has to go for it and make sure not to get hurt. Djokovic will outlast him in five dramatic sets.

SEMIFINAL: Djokovic.

GREAT FIRST ROUND:

Nishikori vs. Philip Kohlschreiber with the German loves to slug.

SECOND QUARTER

Roger Federer could face Grigor Dimitrov in the 3rd round, which it will certainly be a tremendous match, assuming that they get there. The Swiss loves variety and cialis veritable he will get that, likely playing Alexandr Dolgopolov in R2. Dolgopolov loves to slice and mix it up, but Federer has a bigger forehand and serve. Then he should play Dimitrov, who he beat him in Brisbane in 3 tough sets. The Bulgarian is improving once again and without a doubt, he doesn’t back off at all. However, Federer knows how to attack him and when he needs to back off. In the fifth set, Federer will know which way to go. In the fourth round, he will have to face another youngest, Dominic Thiem, whom he out stroked him in Brisbane. It is possible that the flashy David Goffin will get there, but while Thiem can sit way back in the court, he can rip his strokes. This time, the Austria will grab a set, but Federer will get into the quarters.

Who will face him in the quarters? The controversial Nick Kyrgios can go off, but he is an excellent young player. Kyrgios doesn’t have a coach, but somebody must be talking to him during the AO, perhaps with the soon-to-retire Lleyton Hewitt? The super-powerful Kyrgios will overpower Pablo Carreno Busta, then Pablo Cuevas, and then knock out No. 6 Tomas Berdych. Then Kyrgios will face the 2014 US Open champ Marin Cilic, which will be very physically. The fans will be going crazy, cheering for Kyrgios, who will out-stroke him in five sets.

Can the 21 year old stun Federer? Yup. Even though Kyrgios didn’t play particularly well in the fall, and he hasn’t played a match in the ATP this year (even though he played in an exo at the Hopman Cup), he loves to battle at the Slams. He can crush his forehand and backhand, he has a huge serve, he can charge the net, and he can mix it up. Obviously, the 17-time Grand Slam champion Federer is still a better player than he is, but he is slightly aging and in three out of five sets, he can slip down.

SEMIFINAL: Kyrgios

GREAT FIRST ROUND: Thiem vs. Leonardo Mayer. The Argentine has slumped a bit, but he commander viagra generique youtube can drag Thiem all over the place.

BOTTOM HALF

THIRD QUARTER

Without a doubt, this is the most enticing quarter. There are a slew of big names that can reach the semis, including Stan Wawrinka, Rafa Nadal, Milos Raonic, Kevin Anderson, Gael Monfils and Jack Sock.

The No. 4 Wawrinka is slightly leading, as he won the 2014 AO [he beat Djokovic and Nadal] and last year, he reached the semifinal, going down to Novak. The fiery Wawrinka has much improved at the majors of the past two years. But still, he can be vulnerable. Sock has reached the final in New Zealand, and at this point, the American is ready to jump. He will stun Wawrinka in the third round, but it’s Raonic who is ready to go super deep: the Canadian will nail serve after serve and take down Sock in the Round of 16.

Then what? The 14-time Grand Slam viagra sans ordonnance Nadal is fighting hard, even though he can’t figure out Djokovic. Nadal has to go up against Fernando Verdasco in the first time, and while Rafa knows him well, in 2009, they faced off in the semifinal at the AO and the two bangers played over 4 hours. Nadal out-lasted Verdasco, and then he won the tournament, beating Federer.

Can he do it again? I can’t see it, but he should beat Verdasco, knock down Jeremy Chardy in the third round, and in the fourth round, he will club Anderson – assuming that Kevin had overcame the flashy Monfils.

But in the quarters, assuming Raonic is healthy, that he will negate Nadal in four sets. His time is come.

SEMIFINAL: Raonic

GREAT FIRST ROUND:

Chardy vs. Ernests Gulbis: because Gulbis is always crazy – and some times, a whole lot of fun

FOURTH QUARTER

Andy says that he badly wants to win an AO for the first time, losing four times in the finals. He certainly has a chance, but he has to keep his head in the game. In the first time, he will face the super tall and rising 18-year-old Alexander Zverev. Murray will win, but the German will come out swinging. He should control Sam Groth in the second round, and he will out-think Joao Sousa, but in the fourth rounding, it’s anybody’s guess. He should face Bernard Tomic, who has been playing better over the past 13 months, but he should not have retired on Friday at Sydney because he wants to make sure that he is totally healthy in AO. Tomic loves to mix it up, and he can crack the ball. Plus, at least on court, he is much smarter. But so is Murray, who knows how to attack him and mix it up. The Britain will take him down in four sets,

Who will meet Murray in the quarters? David Ferrer, who just loss against Sock and is aging. Maybe the wily Feliciano Lopez, the former USC standout Steve Johnson, or the huge-server John Isner? It will be Isner, who has been way overdo at the AO, losing some very tough losses over the year. Isner will get there, but once he gets on court against Murray, he tends to lose his head. Murray will get through once again.

SEMIFINAL: Andy Murray

GREAT FIRST ROUND: Lleyton Hewitt vs. James Duckworth. The former No. 1 Hewitt will retire at the end of the tournament. What better to go out on the bright lights at Rod Laver Stadium.