US Open Women's draw preview: Can anyone prevent a Serena-Azarenka final?

Caroline Wozniacki

Third Quarter

With fourth seed Sara Errani and eighth seeded Caroline Woznaicki the top names in this quarter, this could be the section that throws up a surprise semi-finalist.

Errani is only 3-3 on hardcourts post Wimbledon and will be defending semi-final points from last year. The Italian has two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded no. 27, as a potential third round draw and either 14th seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko or 21st seeded Simona Halep in the fourth round.

Halep is as good a dark horse as one might find in recent times. The Romanian, who has been to the third round in a slam only once before, has won 31 of her last 36 matches on tour dating back to Rome in May. During that stretch, her only losses have come to Serena Williams (twice), Li Na, Carla Suarez Navarro and Flavia Pennta (through retirement) while she has wins over Wozniacki, Kivotva, Bartoli, Stosur, Radwanska, Vinci (twice) and Jankovic.

The sunshine seems to have faded from 23-yearold Wozniacki’s game but she is still playing top 10 tennis. The Dane should be able to get past 31st seed Klara Zakaplova in the third round and either 10th seeded Roberta Vinci or 22nd seeded Elena Vesnina in the fourth round.

First round matches to watch for – (14) Maria Kirilenko vs. Yanina Wickmayer; (21) Simona Halep vs. Heather WatsonUpset Special – Tomea Babo to upset 10th seed VinciAlso watch out for – 17 yer old Croatian Donna vekic and 19 year old German Annika Beck

Predicted Quarter-final – Wozniacki vs. Halep