Well this fortnight we'll see the top players at the Sony Ericsson Open, to be honest there isn't much to say about this now as it's most likely that one of the top players will win. There'll probably be a few shocks but in the end the champion is unlikely to be ranked outside of the Top 10.
Well on the men's side Nadal leads the pack in section 1. I don't think he has any huge threats in this draw. Neither Tsonga nor Berdych are in great form whilst Almagro, Montanes and Dolgolpolov aren't capable of consistently beating Nadal, though an upset is possible. Ivo Karlovic will be a threat here as well.
On the other side we have Federer! Even though I knew he had dropped to 3rd I was slightly shocked to see him in Section 2. There aren't any immediate threats, his draw looks pretty simple. Marin Cilic, Gilles Simon and Andy Roddick are the obvious names to look out for here.
Out in Section 3 are Soderling and Ferrer, neither played well last week, could be a bad sign or it could mean both are revitalised for this week. Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet could capitalise on this but Juan Martin Del Potro is the one I'm looking out for, hopefully he'll do just as well as last week.
In Section 4 is Djokovic - at No.2! Whilst Andy Murray is his direct opponent. Victor Troicki is once again drawn next to Djokovic. With Djokovic's form I doubt anybody besides Murray on his best form, in this section, will be able to challenge him.
In the women's draw Wozniacki and Jankovic head the 1st section with a selection of challenging opponents, amongst them are Petkovic, Pennetta, Peer and Wickmayer. From current form I think it's unlikely that any of these players will replace the top 2, Wickmayer could potentially topple Jankovic but I'm worried about her consistency. Peer has been playing well lately so she could also be a threat.
Samantha Stosur, Kuznetsova and Na Li head the third section but are all rather inconsistent. Sharapova has been doing well lately and unless there are any unexpected dangers I'd expect to see her in the semis. I'd like to see if Shuai Peng makes it far in this tournament as well.
Schiavone and Zvonareva head the third section again, Radwanska and Bartoli are the threats in this draw however I'd like to see Zvonareva do well. Safina will also be in this draw but she has Zvonareva in the 2nd Round, I still think Safina is still some way to go before capable of beating the Top 10.
Clijsters will still be favourite in this draw despite retiring last week. Azarenka, Cibulkova, Pavlyuchenkova and Kvitova head a rather challenging opposing team with Kanepi and Ivanovic closer in the draw. If Clijsters does fall I'd expect to see any of those names in the semis.
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