Naturally the first thing I looked at was where Justine Henin landed in the draw as this will be her last w/c entry - after this tournament she will get direct entry and will be seeded. She has a very winnable 1st round against Jill Craybas and then will face #5 Elena Dementieva. Poor Elena, she has been the unlucky recipient of a couple of Justine's w/c's - she lost to her in the 2nd round at the Australian Open, you'll remember.
Second, I looked for Melanie Oudin - ONLY because I made a wild prediction that if she could win a couple of rounds in Indian Wells and Miami she could find herself seeded at the French Open. Well, she bombed out in the 1st round in Indian Wells but she has a good looking chance to win a round or two here. She starts against a qualifier, then she would play #11 Vera Zvonareva. Stranger upsets have happened.
The sweetest looking draw might just belong to #3 Venus Williams. There are not a lot of players in her quarter that should beat her. Keep a keen eye out for her. Also, #14 Kim Clijsters - she has a great looking chance to go deep as well.
Gotta say tho, without Serena Williams this tournament sure feels a little empty, doesn't it? Hurry back.
Projected Quarterfinalists:
1 Svetlana Kuznetsova vs 8 Li Na
3 Venus Williams vs 6 Agnieszka Radwanska
4 Victoria Azarenka vs 7 Jelena Jankovic
2 Caroline Wozniacki vs 5 Elena Dementieva
View the draw
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