2019 Australian Open, Melbourne - WTA GRAND SLAM

[kskate2]

DATE: 14 January - 27 January 2019
SURFACE: Hard
PRIZE MONEY: A62,500,000
FIELD SIZE: 128
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Caroline Wozniacki

Seeds:

1. Simona Halep (ROU)
2. Angelique Kerber (GER)
3. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
4. Naomi Osaka (JPN)
5. Sloane Stephens (USA)
6. Elina Svitolina (UKR)
7. Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
8. Petra Kvitova (CZE)
9. Kiki Bertens (NED)
10. Daria Kasatkina (RUS)
11. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)
12. Elise Mertens (BEL)
13. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)
14. Julia Goerges (GER)
15. Ashleigh Barty (AUS)
16. Serena Williams (USA)
17. Madison Keys (USA)
18. Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
19. Caroline Garcia (FRA)
20. Anett Kontaveit (EST)
21. Qiang Wang (CHN)
22. Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)
23. Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP)
24. Lesia Tsurenko (UKR)
25. Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU)
26. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
27. Camila Giorgi (ITA)
28. Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
29. Donna Vekic (CRO)
30. Sharapova, Maria (RUS)
31. Petra Martic (CRO)
32. Barbora Strycova (CZE)

The Tournament:

The Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year and has been staged since 1905. Prior to 1988 the tournament was played on grass. Since 1988 two types of hardcourt surfaces have been used at Melbourne Park (formely known as Flinders Park) - Rebound Ace to 2007 and then Plexicushion.

Attendances at the Australian Open are second only to the US Open and the showcourts are the Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena and the refurbished Margaret Court Arena. All are equipped with retractable roofs.

About Melbourne:

Melbourne is the state capital of Victoria in Queensland and regularly features in the top ranks of the "most livable" cities in the world. It is the second largest city in Australia (after Sydney) with a population of just over 4.5 million.

Founded in 1835, The metropolis is located on the large natural bay of Port Phillip and expands into the hinterlands towards the Dandenong and Macedon mountain ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley.

At the city's centre is the modern Federation Square development, with plazas, bars, and restaurants by the Yarra River. In the Southbank area, the Melbourne Arts Precinct is the site of Arts Centre Melbourne – a performing arts complex – and the National Gallery of Victoria, with Australian and indigenous art.

Tourism Guide:

 

[Hoergren]

 

[AnonymousFan]

nice draw. happy new year all, excited to watch AO

 

[britbox]

nice draw. happy new year all, excited to watch AO

Happy New Year AF - AO about to get going!

 

[britbox]

Cibby could have had a nicer draw. She's got Shuai Zhang

 

[kskate2]

That top half is loaded w/ Simo and the Williams.

 

[britbox]

That top half is loaded w/ Simo and the Williams.

Yeah, that first quarter is particularly brutal.

 

[Hoergren]

Here are the qualifiers and where to place them in the draw quarterwise

1 quarter
4. Q: KUDERMETOVA, Veronika (RUS)
19. Q: VIKHLYANTSEVA, Natalia (RUS)
20. Q: LEPCHENKO, Varvara (USA)
27. Q: SWIATEK, Iga (POL)
30. Q: DOI, Misaki (JPN)
31. Q: MUCHOVA, Karolina (CZE)

2.quarter
45. Q: ANDREESCU, Bianca (CAN)
51. Q: ZHU, Lin (CHN)
63. Q: GOLUBIC, Viktorija (SUI)

3.quarter
79. Q: KALINSKAYA, Anna (RUS)
85. Q: SHARMA, Astra (AUS)
90. Q: DART, Harriet (GBR)

4.quarter
115. Q: BONAVENTURE, Ysaline (BEL)
119. Q: PONCHET, Jessika (FRA)
123. Q: BADOSA GIBERT, Paula (ESP)
125. Q: HADDAD MAIA, Beatriz (BRA)

 

[kskate2]

Schedule of Play - Day 1: Monday, January 14, 2019

Rod Laver Arena
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
M. Sharapova (30) vs H. Dart (Q)

Men's Singles 1st Round
J. Duckworth (WC) vs R. Nadal (2)

Women's Singles 1st Round
P. Hercog vs A. Kerber (2)

Night session - From 7:00pm AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
A. Van Uytvanck vs C. Wozniacki (3)

Men's Singles 1st Round
D. Istomin vs R. Federer (3)

Margaret Court Arena
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
J. Goerges (14) vs D. Collins

Women's Singles 1st Round
S. Stephens (5) vs T. Townsend

Not before 3:00pm AEDT
Men's Singles 1st Round
A. de Minaur (27) vs P. Sousa

Night session - From 7:00pm AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
A. Barty (15) vs L. Kumkhum

Men's Singles 1st Round
M. Cilic (6) vs B. Tomic

Melbourne Arena
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Men's Singles 1st Round
K. Anderson (5) vs A. Mannarino

Women's Singles 1st Round
M. Sakkari vs J. Ostapenko (22)

Men's Singles 1st Round
K. Edmund (13) vs T. Berdych

Not before 6:00pm AEDT
Men's Singles 1st Round
R. Bautista Agut (22) vs A. Murray

Not before 7:00pm AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
P. Kvitova (8) vs M. Rybarikova

1573 Arena
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
J. Ponchet (Q) vs C. Garcia (19)

Men's Singles 1st Round
G. Dimitrov (20) vs J. Tipsarevic

Women's Singles 1st Round
A. Riske vs K. Bertens (9)

Not before 5:00pm AEDT
Men's Singles 1st Round
M. Ebden vs J. Struff

Court 3
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
A. Kalinskaya (Q) vs A. Sabalenka (11)

Men's Singles 1st Round
S. Tsitsipas (14) vs M. Berrettini

Women's Singles 1st Round
E. Perez (WC) vs Y. Wang

Men's Singles 1st Round
F. Lopez vs J. Thompson

Court 5
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Men's Singles 1st Round
C. Eubanks (Q) vs N. Basilashvili (19)

Women's Singles 1st Round
M. Puig vs A. Pavlyuchenkova

Women's Singles 1st Round
Y. Putintseva vs B. Strycova (32)

Women's Singles 1st Round
I. Begu vs A. Petkovic

Court 7
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
A. Sharma (Q) vs P. Hon (WC)

Women's Singles 1st Round
P. Badosa Gibert (Q) vs K. Birrell (WC)

Men's Singles 1st Round
P. Gojowczyk vs K. Khachanov (10)

Men's Singles 1st Round
F. Delbonis vs J. Millman

Court 8
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
D. Vekic (29) vs K. Mladenovic

Women's Singles 1st Round
B. Mattek-Sands vs Z. Hives (WC)

Men's Singles 1st Round
R. Opelka vs J. Isner (9)

Men's Singles 1st Round
G. Monfils (30) vs D. Dzumhur

Court 10
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Men's Singles 1st Round
M. Mmoh vs R. Albot

Women's Singles 1st Round
O. Jabeur vs T. Babos

Men's Singles 1st Round
A. Rublev vs M. McDonald

Court 12
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
K. Boulter vs E. Makarova

Women's Singles 1st Round
B. Haddad Maia (Q) vs B. Pera

Men's Singles 1st Round
M. Basic vs H. Laaksonen (Q)

Not before 5:00pm AEDT
Men's Singles 1st Round
C. Norrie vs T. Fritz

Court 13
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Men's Singles 1st Round
M. Kecmanovic (Q) vs F. Verdasco (26)

Men's Singles 1st Round
J. Kubler (WC) vs T. Fabbiano

Women's Singles 1st Round
B. Bencic vs K. Siniakova

Not before 4:00pm AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
K. Flipkens vs A. Sasnovich

Court 14
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
H. Watson vs P. Martic (31)

Men's Singles 1st Round
G. Garcia-Lopez vs R. Haase

Men's Singles 1st Round
M. Polmans (WC) vs D. Kudla

Court 15
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
S. Cirstea vs R. Peterson

Men's Singles 1st Round
F. Tiafoe vs P. Gunneswaran (Q)

Women's Singles 1st Round
A. Kontaveit (20) vs S. Sorribes Tormo

Not before 5:00pm AEDT
Men's Singles 1st Round
A. Seppi vs S. Johnson (31)

Court 19
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
Y. Bonaventure (Q) vs S. Vickery

Women's Singles 1st Round
L. Tsurenko (24) vs E. Alexandrova

Men's Singles 1st Round
T. Ito (Q) vs D. Evans (Q)

Not before 5:00pm AEDT
Men's Singles 1st Round
Y. Nishioka vs T. Sandgren

Court 20
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
M. Vondrousova vs E. Rodina

Men's Singles 1st Round
P. Cuevas vs D. Lajovic

Men's Singles 1st Round
R. Molleker (Q) vs D. Schwartzman (18)

Not before 4:00pm AEDT
Women's Singles 1st Round
V. Lapko vs J. Larsson

Court 22
Day session - From 11:00am AEDT
Men's Singles 1st Round
S. Travaglia (Q) vs G. Andreozzi

Women's Singles 1st Round
M. Niculescu vs A. Anisimova

Men's Singles 1st Round
V. Troicki (Q) vs R. Carballes Baena

 

[GameSetAndMath]

So, Diva starts the proceedings

 

[britbox]

Pre-AO Interviews

Heather Watson



Katie Boulter



Sam Stosur

 

[britbox]

Pre-AO Interviews

Simona Halep



Angelique Kerber



Elina Svitolina

 

[britbox]

Pre-AO Interviews

Naomi Osaka



Viktoria Azarenka

 

[britbox]

So, Diva starts the proceedings

Yes, your favourite starts the show first.

 

[britbox]

Any First Round Surprises on the Cards? I'm thinking Ostapenko is vulnerable.

 

[Tenfan63]

Any First Round Surprises on the Cards? I'm thinking Ostapenko is vulnerable.

Stephens vs Townsend. Sloane is inconsistent.

 

[britbox]

Stephens vs Townsend. Sloane is inconsistent.

Any thoughts on Danielle Collins maybe surprising Georges?

 

[britbox]

Masha off to a flyer. First set bagel.

 

[britbox]

Looking like an early dart for Harriet... really struggling with Masha's power.

 

[kskate2]

Any thoughts on Danielle Collins maybe surprising Georges?

Not likely. Collins cannot close. Unless the opponent gives her the match, she has a hard time sealing the deal against top players. Besides, Julia typically plays well during the Australian summer.