BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain & MALLORCA, Spain – The official draw ceremonies for the Aegon Classic Birmingham and the Mallorca Open took place Saturday morning, and the stacked fields produced some exciting early matchups as some of the top players look to take their first steps on grass courts.
Click here to view the full Birmingham draw! | Click here to view the full Mallorca draw!
This year’s top seed at Birmingham is Agnieszka Radwanska. Last year, she skipped Birmingham in favor of Nottingham, but the Pole’s game loves the grass courts, and it was at this stage last year that Radwanska found her form and reignited a flagging season.
Radwanska has a tough road ahead if she looking to score her second title of 2016 at the Edgbaston Priory Club. Awaiting her in the first round is CoCo Vandeweghe, a big-serving American whose powerful game just clicks together on grass each season. Vandeweghe comes in to the matchup with plenty of matches under her belt too, having reached the final at the Ricoh Open.
If she gets past Vandeweghe, the top seed will face a qualifier in the second round, then potentially Caroline Wozniacki or Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals, two players against whom she’s got a steep losing head-to-head record. She could run into last year’s finalist Karolina Pliskova – who’s into the final in Nottingham this week – in a potential semifinal matchup.
And of course, potentially awaiting in the final is the No.2 seed and defending Birmingham champion, Angelique Kerber.
The German’s road to the final is similarly treacherous: if she gets past Peng Shuai in the first round, Kerber’s potentially up against dangerous youngster Daria Gavrilova and her penchant for knocking out Top 10 players on the big stage. Possible quarterfinal opponents include Carla Suárez Navarro and Andrea Petkovic, while a matchup with Simona Halep could come in the semifinals.
The host country is well represented at the Aegon Classic Birmingham, with four Brits in the main draw: Heather Watson, Johanna Konta, Tara Moore and Naomi Broady.
Although all eyes are on Johanna Konta, the World No.18 who keeps climbing up the ranks, it’s been Moore whose recent performance has left an impression. She’s fresh off an appearance in the quarterfinals of the Aegon Open Nottingham, and has been drawn against Konta in the first round.
Possible Birmingham Quarterfinals:
Radwanska vs Kvitova
Bencic vs Ka. Pliskova
Keys vs Halep
Suárez Navarro vs Kerber
Notable early round matches:
Radwanska vs Vandeweghe (round 1)
Konta vs Moore (round 1)
Safarova vs Halep (round 1)
Wozniacki vs Kvitova (round 2)
Petkovic vs Suárez Navarro (round 2)
Gavrilova vs Kerber (round 2)
In Mallorca, reigning French Open champion and top seed Garbiñe Muguruza is back in action in her home country at the inaugural Mallorca Open. She’s joined by the likes of Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Eugenie Bourchard, and Kristina Mladenovic as they seek to become the International-level event’s first champion.
Muguruza won’t get a moment to rest once she steps onto the court to play her first grass court match of the year, though, because in the first round awaits the seemingly indefatigable Kristen Flipkens. The Belgian amassed an impressive winning streak of 19-3 on clay, but fell in the first round at the Ricoh Open.
Should Muguruza advance past Flipkens, she sets up a possible quarterfinal clash Laura Siegemund, and her semifinal opponents could include Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Garcia.
Mallorca’s No.2 seed is former World No.1 Jelena Jankovic, whose road to the final is loaded with possible landmines. Right out of the gates she’s set to face Ana Konjuh, last year’s Nottingham winner, and if she advances to the second round she gets Francesca Schiavone. Her potential quarterfinal opponents are Yulia Putintseva, Daniela Hantuchova and Yaroslava Shvedova, and in the semifinals she could play 2014 Wimbledon finalist Bouchard or Sabine Lisicki.
Possible Mallorca quarterfinals
Muguruza vs Siegemund
Ivanovic vs Garcia
Bouchard vs Mladenovic
Putintseva vs Jankovic
Notable early round matches
Muguruza vs Flipkens (round 1)
Lisicki vs Mladenovic (round 1)
Schiavone vs Jankovic (round 2)
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