With the high-profile American hard court swing looming next month, the WTA Tour stops off in Malaysia and Mexico this week. Both tournaments will provide the lower ranked player’s a chance to grab a crucial confidence boost as well as ranking points. With so much occurring at these two WTA $250,000 events, here are the five things to follow throughout the week.
Can Svitolina continue her winning momentum?
Elina Svitolina enters the Malaysian Open as both the defending champion and headline act. This season the Ukrainian has proven her credentials as a future star by winning back to back titles in Taiwan and Dubai (a premier tournament). Last week Svitolina denied Angelique Kerber the chance to regain the world No.1 position, defeating her for the second time this season. She then followed up on the win by defeating another former world No.1 in the final, Caroline Wozniacki.
Svitolina enters Kuala Lumpur win a win-loss record of 17-2 this season. Currently on a 12-match winning streak (counting the Fed Cup), the world No.10 is hoping she can live up to the current hype surrounding her.
Svitolina’s potential route to the title
R1 – Jang Su-jeong (KOR)
R2 – Nao Hibino (JPN)/Maryna Zanevska (BEL)
QF – Elise Mertens (BEl)
SF – Peng Shuai (CHN)
F- Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP)
How will Lucic-Baroni cope with a No.1 seeding?
A month has passed since Mirjana Lucic-Baroni produced a dream run at the Australian Open. The 34-year-old stunned players such as Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova to reach the semifinals in a major tournament for the first time since Wimbledon 1999. It was a fairytale outcome for a player who spent time away from the tour during her career due to personal and financial problems.
The Croat will play her first tournament since Australia at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco. She will be bidding to win her first title since the 2014 Coupe Banque Nationale, but the task won’t be easy. In the first round she faces a tough encounter against former top-10 player Belinda Bencic, whom she has lost two twice before in 2015 and 2016. Further in the draw, Lucic-Baroni could face matches against Andrea Petkovic, Jelena Ostapenko and Kristina Mladenovic.
Is Suarez Navarro back on track?
The start of 2017 has been far from perfect for the injury-stricken Carla Suarez Navarro. So far this season the Spaniard has only been able to play two matches on the tour due to a shoulder injury, which forced her out of tournaments in Brisbane, Sydney and Dubai.
“It has been tough for me dealing with the shoulder injury so early in the season. I am still working on the recovery,” said Suarez Navarro recently said on Facebook.
“However, I have been practising through my rehab to get back stronger,” she later added.
Returning to action in Malaysia, Suarez Navarro will be the second seed. She will start her campaign against Japanese qualifier Miyu Kato with the hope she can stage a comeback similar to that of Roger Federer at the Australian Open.
¡Preparando el torneo de Kuala Lumpur! Getting ready for the @alyawtamo in slow motion! 🇲🇾😜 #wta #tennis pic.twitter.com/evxA1V6yBp
— Carla Suarez Navarro (@CarlaSuarezNava) 26 February 2017
Can Bouchard end her title drought?
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard has always been classed in the top half of the women’s tour, but her lack to trophies suggests otherwise. The world No.46 has only ever won one title on the WTA Tour, the 2014 Nuremberg Cup in Germany. She has the ability to defeat top-10 players, most recently Dominika Cibulkova last month, but consistency has been the problem.
This week Bouchard is seeded sixth in Acapulco. Rewarded a relatively favourable draw for the first two rounds, her biggest challenge could occur in the quarter-finals where she is set to play France’s Kristina Mladenovic, who won her first WTA title in St. Petersburg earlier this year.
Monica Puig targets improvement in Mexico
The last time Monica Puig played a tournament in South America, she made history by becoming the first female Puerto Rican athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. This time round, the objective is different for Puig.
“My goal is to continue improving my game, I’m looking a little more objective than a simple result, that will help guide me in the right direction where I want to go.” she told Economia Hoy on Sunday.
“I want to be remembered as a respectful and affectionate player by everyone and always Gave the best on the court.”
Puig hasn’t reached the final of a tournament since the Rio Games. Recently she has enjoyed some encouraging results on the tour with a run to the semifinals in Doha (losing to Wozniacki) followed by the third round in Doha a week later (losing to Kerber).
In Mexico she will be seeded fourth and begins her campaign against Italy’s Francesca Schiavone.
