Stanford Preview

The Bank of the West Classic at Stanford is the first event of the US Open Series for the WTA. It is a premier event that will feature four members of the top ten as well as six more players in the top 32. Serena Williams will also be competing in Stanford. Last year at Stanford, Victoria Azarenka beat Maria Sharapova in the finals, 6-4 6-1. Will Azarenka be able to defend her championship and capture her third singles title of the year?

Lets start off our analysis by taking a look the top four seeds at Stanford.

The top seed is defending champion, Victoria Azarenka. On top of defeating Sharapova in the finals, she also beat Marion Bartoli and Samantha Stosur in the quarters and semis respectively. Since she recaptured her title at Miami, Azarenka has been showing excellent tennis along with much improved mental strength. With her increased confidence, she will be hard to beat.

The second seed is Maria Sharapova. Like Azarenka, Sharapova is having an excellent year so far. She reached the semis at Roland Garros and the finals at Wimbledon. She is probably the hardest hitter at Stanford. If she can keep her double fault count low, she has a clear path to the semis. (That is, unless she draws Serena Williams for her first match...)

The third seed at Stanford is Marion Bartoli. Bartoli has had excellent results here; she was the runner up in 2008, and she won the event in 2009 defeating Venus Williams. Bartoli hits the ball hard and flat, and, because she uses two hands on both sides, she can hit the ball very deep and with great angles. However, her two handed strokes limit her reach, and she isn't very fast to begin with. As the third seed, she is expected to go deep in the tournament, and she definitely has the weapons at her disposal to upset one or both of the top two seeds.

Samantha Stosur has had a terrible year in singles. She caved under pressure at the Australian Open where she lost in the third round. Sadly enough, that Australian Open run has been the best she's done at a slam this year. However, she did reach the semis here last year, and she has two weapons that work well on hardcourts- her serve and her forehand. She can hit her serve in the 120 MPH range. She also has the best kick serve in the world which helps her get her opponents off the court so she can dominate the point with her forehand.

Besides those four players, I don't think there are very many other players who can take the title. We don't know how seriously Serena will take Stanford, and none of the other four seeds is really that dangerous at the moment. Radwanska, the fifth seed, doesn't have any power, and the other seeds, while they all have great power, are too inconsistent. However, I do think that Sabine Lisicki has a shot at the title. She has one of the fastest serves in the women's game, and she can hit quite hard.

Although I think that Maria Sharapova is the best player in the draw at the moment, I think that Victoria Azarenka will defend her title as she has beaten Sharapova in both finals that they have contested.