Petra Kvitova (Getty)
With the “Australian Summer Swing” wrapping up this week before the Australian Open starts, some fans have wondered if any of the events, a hodgepodge of ATP and WTA Tour stops along with exhibitions stretched out over two continents on multiple cities and on varying hard court surfaces, and the results produced at them, will have any bearing at all on what goes down in Melbourne.
Out of all the events this month, the Apia International Sydney WTA event has emerged recently as a reliable bellwether for Melbourne. For several years now, finalists at Sydney have gone to success at the AO with last year’s Sydney runner up Kim Clijsters going on to defeat Li Na, who won Sydney, in three sets in Melbourne. The 2012 event includes nine of the WTA top ten and with it a bit of intrigue as Petra Kvitova, seeded No. 2, could seize the No. 1 ranking away from Caroline Wozniacki if Kvitova wins the Sydney event outright. Kvitova said recently at the Hopman Cup that she doesn’t really dwell on being No. 1, but the consensus view is that it’s inevitable Kvitova will claim the top spot sometime this year based on her recent form.
But other players will be looking to do well this week to prove they too shouldn’t be forgotten when Melbourne rolls around. Victoria Azarenka will see her first tour action of the new year along with Agnieszka Radwanska and Vera Zvonareva. Sam Stosur will be hoping to make up for another early round exit in Brisbane that has renewed the theory that the U.S. Open champion can’t repeat her Major success on home soil. Li Na will definitely be seeking a return to her stellar form at the start of last year and two Russians, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, will want to prove that they shouldn’t be overlooked when the AO draw is made at the end of the week.
Will the finalists of Sydney end up meeting each other once again in a few weeks time on the final Saturday of the Australian Open? If they do, then Sydney will definitely lock in its reputation as the must-win event for anyone hoping to hoist the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
To view the Sydney draw, click here.
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Tough to pick, but I’m hearing that Li’s form is pretty sweet at the moment. I’m also thinking Svetlana is due — she just crushed Vera in r1.
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