US Open 2010 Women's Singles Predictions (First Quarter)

To make these fairly dense section-by-section US Open previews a little more digestible, I'll be breaking them up by quarter of the draw.  First up is the Wozniacki Quarter of the women's draw, predicted through the first week.

First Quarter:

Caroline Wozniacki DEN (1) v Chelsey Gullickson USA [WC]
Kai-Chen Chang TPE v Carla Suarez Navarro ESP
Anne Keothavong GBR v Yung-Jan Chan TPE
Tamira Paszek AUT [Q] v Lucie Safarova CZE (26)

Caroline Wozniacki should be playing with a world of confidence right now.  She's won three of her last four tournaments, including back-to-back titles the past two weeks in Montreal and New Haven, a run that snagged her the US Open Series title.  She won it playing aggressive tennis than she had in most of her career, forcing the issue instead of the relatively passive style she sometimes drifted into.  That said, if Wozniacki comes up against a big hitter who is playing well, she is not immune from being blown off the court.  Petra Kvitova, then #62 in the world, did it to her at Wimbledon, beating the then third-seeded Wozniacki 6-2, 6-0 in under an hour.  I don't see anyone in this section who I have any confidence predicting to do that to Wozniacki.  Lucie Safarova hasn't had a great summer, and Yung-Jan "Latisha" Chan is yet to cut down on her erraticness and live up to her potential.  Carla Suarez Navarro has made the quarterfinals of a slam the same number of times as Wozniacki (twice), but she really hasn't made any noise to speak of lately.  Wozniacki will make it through, but maybe wild card Chelsey Gullickson could make a splash the same way Olivia Rogowska did last year? Predicted Round of 16er: Caroline Wozniacki.

Aravane Rezai FRA (18) v Magdalena Rybarikova SVK
Beatrice Capra USA [WC] v Karolina Sprem CRO
Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP [Q] v Iveta Benesova CZE
Jarmila Groth AUS v Maria Sharapova RUS (14)

Aravane Rezai (in my rankings, anyway) currently holds the competitive title of most unpredictable player in the WTA.  There is absolutely no one she can't beat in this draw, and absolutely no one she can't lose to.  For that reason, I'm selling early and picking the steady Rybarikova to pull of the early upset.  Sprem and Benesova should get through their matches, which leaves an incredibly tough first round match-up in the bottom of this section between Jarmila Groth and Maria Sharapova.  Sharapova played incredibly well in Cincinnati, and had three match points in the final there against Kim Clijsters before a rain delay and heel injury killed her momentum.  Groth is one of the hardest hitters on tour (much harder than Sharapova, even), and has made back to back second weeks at grand slams.  If Sharapova isn't 100% with her health and form right out of the gates, she could be going home quickly.  That said, she has the best chance of anyone in this group to do what she's supposed to do and more, so I have her advancing. Predicted Round of 16er: Maria Sharapova

Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (11) v Kimiko Date Krumm JPN
Regina Kulikova RUS v Anastasija Sevastova LAT
Yvonne Meusburger AUT v Jill Craybas USA
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE v Maria Kirilenko RUS (23)

This section is a tough one, to be sure.  Svetlana Kuznetsova, having won San Diego and made a good run in Montreal, should skate through easily, but she has an uncanny ability to lose matches she has no business losing with tidal waves of errors.  The steady Kimiko Date Krumm, who beat Dinara Safina at the first round of the French Open this year, could give Kuznetsova trouble early. Maria Kirilenko has also been playing extremely well lately, and should be able to win a tough one against Zahlavova Strycova and then an easy one against the winner of Meusberger vs. Craybas (which gets my vote as softest first round match).  Kuznetsova vs. Kirilenko should be a good one.  The third round is right about when it becomes evident in a grand slam whether or not Kuznetsova is playing to her abilities or not (if she makes it that far, that is), and I think she'll be driven to avenge her Rome loss to Kirilenko and take her spot in the second week of the tournament. Predicted Round of 16er: Svetlana Kuznetsova

Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ (30) v Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP [Q]
Anna Chakvetadze RUS v Urszula Radwanska POL
Dominika Cibulkova SVK v Stefanie Voegele SUI
Kateryna Bondarenko UKR v Li Na CHN (8)

This section could go a lot of different ways.  There are five players (Shvedova, Chakvetadze, Cibulkova, KBondarenko, Li) who have a legitimate shot of making it to the fourth round.  I think based on current form, this week's Bronx champion Chakvetadze should be able to make it through Shvedova to make the third round on the upper part of this octet.  Cibulkova should have little trouble with Voegele, which leaves the match between Kateryna Bondarenko and Li Na.  Both Li and the youngest Bondarenko were quarterfinalists at last year's US Open, so each should feel a fair amount of pressure to defend her points.  The pressure would have to be greater for Bondarenko, who could actually fall out of the top 100 if she loses in the first round here.  Which, sadly for her, I think she will.  Li hasn't been playing spectacularly lately, but Bondarenko has really struggled.  Li should be able to hit through Chakvetadze, though I could see it going either way.  Predicted Round of 16er: Li Na