Wimbledon 2011: Ladies' Singles Predictions - Bottom Half

Ladies' Singles action at Wimbledon 2011 gets underway on Monday with Day 1 action featuring the bottom half of the draw.  Here's a look at how the first week of action at The All-England Club will shake out:

THIRD QUARTER

Francesca Schiavone ITA (6) v Jelena Dokic AUS
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE v Q Aleksandra Wozniak CAN
Ayumi Morita JPN v Tamira Paszek AUT
Christina McHale USA v Ekaterina Makarova RUS (28)

Francesca Schiavone comes off of her second career grand slam final appearance and onto grass, her worst surface, with no real pressure on her.  Her run to the finals of Roland Garros this year completely dispelled any notion that her 2010 title there was a fluke, and there doesn't seem to be much left for the Italian (who turns 31 on Thursday) to prove.  All of which makes her draw at this tournament pretty fascinating.  She gets the incredibly tough opening round task of playing Jelena Dokic, who is at her best on grass and is coming off a run to the final of 's-Hertogenbosch last week.  But Dokic turned in an absolutely terrible performance at the end of that final, choking away the match several times at the end to give Roberta Vinci the title.  I think their first round match could go either way, but I'm not confident enough in Dokic's confidence to pick her.  So I'll take Schiavone to get through the first round, but I think her gas will run out in the second round against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, an equally fiesty player with a far nastier streak.  But I'll take 2010 Eastbourne champion Ekaterina Makarova to get to the second week out of this section.  Makarova had a terrible draw at this event last year, getting Venus Williams in the second round, but she should be able to get past McHale, Paszek, and BZS fairly nicely.  Predicted Round of 16er: Ekaterina Makarova

Shahar Peer ISR (22) v Ksenia Pervak RUS
Sorana Cirstea ROU v Pauline Parmentier FRA
Q Irina Falconi USA v LL Stephanie Dubois CAN
LL Stephanie Foretz Gacon FRA v Andrea Petkovic GER (11)

Andrea Petkovic lost in the first round of Wimbledon 2010 to Anna Chakvetadze, but this section really seems like hers to lose.  Shahar Peer has been struggling, and the rest of this section is an incredible collection of nothing.  It's a nice chance for Sorana Cirstea to build on her third round appearance at the French Open, which I think is as far as she'll get before losing to Petkovic.  Petkovic should cruise into the second week (what would be her fourth consecutive second week at a slam), but how she'll do beyond that point is far more unpredictable. Predicted Round of 16er: Andrea Petkovic

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS (14) v Q Lesia Tsurenko UKR
Vesna Dolonts RUS v Nadia Petrova RUS
Kateryna Bondarenko UKR v Alize Cornet FRA
Sara Errani ITA v Kaia Kanepi EST (17)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has been on the WTA radar for years now (ever since her run to the semifinals of Indian Wells back in 2009), but this past French Open (with a win over Vera Zvonareva to reach her first grand slam quarterfinal) seemed like her official coming out party.  She's got a nice draw to start, with only falling star Nadia Petrova likely to cause any sort of hiccup before the third round.  In the bottom half of the draw, 2010 quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi lurks, but I think she's gonna fall to 2004 Wimbledon Girls' champion Kateryna Bondarenko (a dumb pick, I realize, but I have a hunch).  Bondarenko should be no match for Pavlyuchenkova, and if Kanepi does make it through I still like Pavlyuchenkova's odds. Predicted Round of 16er: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Daniela Hantuchova SVK (25) v Q Vitalia Diachenko RUS
Q Kai-Chen Chang TPE v Q Marina Erakovic NZL
Sandra Zahlavova CZE v Iveta Benesova CZE
Magdalena Rybarikova SVK v Victoria Azarenka BLR (4)

Daniela Hantuchova has had as strong a last month as anyone, with big wins over Caroline Wozniacki at the French Open and Venus Williams on grass at Eastbourne.  Hantuchova is rewarded with Victoria Azarenka in her sixteenth of the draw, a match that strikes me as a total 50/50 proposition.  But I'll tip Hantuchova to make the second week, because Azarenka's road to the third round is significantly tougher.  Magdalena Rybarikova is secretly something of a grass phenom, and Azarenka can be a slow starter at slams.  I think Azarenka will make it to Hantuchova, but that hurdle is making me pick Hantuchova. Predicted Round of 16er: Daniela Hantuchova

FOURTH QUARTER

Petra Kvitova CZE (8) v Q Alexa Glatch USA
WC Naomi Broady GBR v Anne Keothavong GBR
Rebecca Marino CAN v Patricia Mayr-Achleitner AUT
Vera Dushevina RUS v Roberta Vinci ITA (29)

For the second straight slam, Petra Kvitova is the popular darkhorse pick.  And there's plenty of reason to like her chances here.  Kvitova made the semifinals at Wimbledon last year, absolutely demolishing Caroline Wozniacki and giving eventual champ Serena Williams her toughest test of the tournament.  Kvitova is in a nice eighth of the draw, and should be able to get to the second week with relative ease.  Roberta Vinci just won her first grass court title at 's-Hertogenbosch, but she's doesn't have the type of weapons that can scare Petra Kvitova, and she might even not make it past surging Canadian Rebecca Marino. Predicted Round of 16er: Petra Kvitova

Yanina Wickmayer BEL (19) v Varvara Lepchenko USA
Anastasia Pivovarova RUS v Anna Tatishvili GEO
Jill Craybas USA v Alexandra Dulgheru ROU
Shuai Zhang CHN v Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (12)

This section is filled to the brim with unreliable players, so its tough to make heads or tails of what will happen.  Both Wickmayer and Kuznetsova have had disappointing goes of it in 2011, but there aren't any real threats to either of them in this section.  Grass is Kuznetsova's worst surface, but she has made the quarters at Wimbledon three times.  If she doesn't over-think things in this first week, she should be able to win her first three matches. Predicted Round of 16er: Svetlana Kuznetsova

Jelena Jankovic SRB (15) v Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP
Monica Niculescu ROU v Sybille Bammer AUT
WC Katie O'Brien GBR v Kimiko Date-Krumm JPN
Akgul Amanmuradova UZB v Venus Williams USA (23)

Jankovic vs. Martinez Sanchez may well be the toughest first round match of these championships, and it should be a tremendous contrast in styles as well.  Jankovic's counterpunching could keep her out of the driver's seat in that match, but if she can make it through, she could put together a real nice run in this tournament.  Jankovic is one of the toughest outs in the game even still, and has had her share of success on grass, including a mixed doubles title in 2007 with Jamie Murray, and an upset of Venus Williams in the third round of Wimbledon 2006.  Venus and Jankovic could again meet in the third round this year, and while Venus will be favored, that match could be a real brawl.  But Venus is a completely different player at Wimbledon, and I think she should be able to gut it out.  Predicted Round of 16er: Venus Williams

Tsvetana Pironkova BUL (32) v Q Camila Giorgi ITA
Vania King USA v Petra Martic CRO
Elena Vesnina RUS v Laura Pous-Tio ESP
Alison Riske USA v Vera Zvonareva RUS (2)

Tsvetana Pironkova hasn't done anything to back up her shock run to the semifinals of Wimbledon 2010 in the year since.  She's always been capable of playing the best tough, but Wimbledon 2010 was one of the first big tournaments at which she was able to summon wins over more anonymous competition as well.  She'll need to focus if she's going to force a rematch of last year's semifinal against Vera Zvonareva in this tournament.  Zvonareva has been the far steadier of the two, and her best is much better than Pironkova's best, so she's the pick here.  Predicted Round of 16er: Vera Zvonareva