Analysis of the drawing:
The upper half:
Best seeds: [1] Iga Swiatek, [3] Coco Gauff, [5] Maria Sakkari and [8] Come on Jabert.
World number one and last year’s runner-up Iga Swiatek will start the tournament against either Wang Xiyu or Ana Bogdan in the second round.
Most likely, she will meet Romanian Sorana Cristea in the third round, and then her opponents may win the match between 16th seed Elina Svitolina and 23rd seed Victoria Azarenka.
Coco Gauff, seeded third, will start the tournament in the second round against Brenda Fruhvirtova or Arantxa Rus. The American could face a tough test in the third round against Dayana Yastremska or Amanda Anisimova. Possible fourth-round opponents include 15th-seeded Lyudmila Samsonova and 18th-seeded Madison Keys.
Last year’s semi-finalists Maria Sakkari and Veronika Kudermetova also found themselves in the top half of the rankings. Sakkari could face Swiatek in the quarterfinals if he reaches that stage.
Kudermetova, meanwhile, begins with a match against Emma Raducanu or former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova. It is likely that she could face Jelena Ostapenko in the third round if she advances further. The winner of this confrontation could then face Ons Jabeur.
Lower half:
Best seeds: [2] Arina Sabalenko, [4] Elena Rybakina, [6] Zheng Qingwen and [7] Marketa Vondrousova.
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will begin her title defense against either Magda Linette or Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round. She could face Katie Boulter in the third round. Next, a match with Danielle Collins in the fourth round seems very likely.
Elena Rybakina will start the tournament in Madrid against Lucia Bronzetti or the winner of the qualifier. A rematch of the Stuttgart final against Marta Kostic in the third round could be possible if they both win their opening matches.
Rybakina could meet Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round. However, Alexandrova will struggle as she faces compatriot Anna Kalinskaya in the third round.
Zheng Qingwen will start the tournament against Yulia Putintseva or her compatriot Yue Yuan. She could face Angelina Kalinina in the third round, as well as Daria Kasatkina or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the fourth.
Marketa Vondrousova will start the tournament against Shuai Zhang or Shelby Rogers in the second round. Linda Noskova is a possible third-round opponent, while Caroline Garcia or Jasmine Paolini could face her in the fourth.
Semi-final predictions:
Iga Swiatek will defeat Coco Gauff
Elena Rybakina will beat Arina Sabalenka
Prediction for the final:
Elena Rybakina will beat Iga Swiatek
Vyacheslav Gorbachev, Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
