In the past year, there were four different winners (three of which were first time champions) across the four different tennis Slams, which indicates how open women’s tennis is at the moment.
For Australia, Sam Stosur is now seen as a credible contender at Slams after enjoying a golden 2011, having won the US Open.
Despite this achievement, Stosur has rarely seen success in Australia. Her best results came in ’06 and ’10 where she made the final 16, and she freely admits to succumbing under the weight of expectation that comes when playing in front of a home crowd. In lead-up tournaments she lost early to players she should have beaten.
However, if she can stay composed mentally like she did in New York, she’s still in with a chance. The Plexicushion surface is also in her favour, as it should suit her heavy kick serve and powerful ground-strokes.
The player Stosur lost to last year is Petra Kvitova, who’s also my tip to win. She’s had a career defining season, climbing from thirty-four to two in the rankings. She won Wimbledon and the WTA Championships in Istanbul, was named WTA player of the year, and lead the Czech Republic to Fed Cup glory.
Kvitova becoming number one is inevitable, and could well happen at the Australian Open through a strong performance. She possesses a swift lefty serve, and has powerful and accurate groundstrokes off both wings. At 21, she has maturity beyond her years and that’s why I think she’ll be this year’s champion.
Seeing as this is her swansong season, defending champion Kim Clijsters will compete down under for probably the last time. Unfortunately she was setback for most of last year with injury, and has further doubts after suffering a hip injury in Brisbane.
Pressure from the media is increasing over Caroline Wozniacki being undeserving of her number one world ranking, because she is yet to win a Major. She’s been in this position for more than a year now.
She also receives criticism for her conservative playing style, which sees her as the most consistent player on tour, but on the other hand lacks the punch needed to go all the way in one of the Grand Slams. Surely, her time will come soon.
If Serena Williams can overcome her sprained an ankle from Brisbane she will be a force for concern, and she has history to back her up. Williams seems to grow an extra limb when contesting a Slam, and that has seen her win 13 majors, five of which were in Australia.
Two Russians, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova are also multiple Grand Slam winners. While Kuznetsova is more suited to clay, Sharapova feels right at home on hard courts, having previously won the Australian Open in 2008. However, she is somewhat under the injury cloud, recovering from an ankle issue.
Other genuine contenders include Sydney winner and world number three, Victoria Azarenka. Add to that Li Na, who lost to Azarenka in the Sydney International Final last week. Na has raised the profile of tennis in her home country of China after becoming the first Chinese player, male or female, to break through for a Major by winning last year’s French Open.
Kaia Kanepi and Agnieszka Radwanska are two other in-form dark horses that might sneak under the radar.
Prediction: Kvitova defeats Li Na in the finals.
Farhan Shah is a second year Bachelor of Journalism (Sport) student at La Trobe University. You can follow him on Twitter: @farhanshah195.
