Activities with a better social acceptance on this side of the screen caught on me, leaving only the morning and a little window in late afternoon to watch tennis and even trade.
I usually need my time prepping matches and daily schedule when I'm trading, so I left it for a while, beside blogging.
Also bigger tournament, and ATP-WTA combined ones above all, aren't much in my liking; I feel more confortable with minor ones.
WTA is hitting the heart of Europe placing two tournaments in the centres of European political power.
WTA Premier, Brussels Open
Main Draw
Caroline Wozniacki was wild-carded to top seed the event. Her recent form is much questionable: she lost three first round on red clay, only managing a win over Soler-Espinosa on the green clay of Charleston.
Yet Goerges and Oprandi at quartefinals height are big challenger for her.
In the top half I fancy Sloane Sthephens. The young American is a great claycourter for the US standards, she had a good clay season also last year when she reached the semifinal in Strasbourg losing to title-winner Schiavone, and then the second week of Roland Garros.
Stephens is facing Pironkova in the opening match, there shouldn't be an upset given Pironkova is a four weeks player (the four weeks of grass season), and then other non clay specialists as Rybarikova. Rus is the only claycourter in this section Stephens' strokes have a different pace.
In the bottom half there's Roberta Vinci whose climb to the top ten halted at her carrer high of 12th. She has no points to defend here and at the French Open, so two decent runs could be enough; I still think clay isn't her best surface. Also her section isn't a light one, including home players Flipkens [5], Wickmayer and WC Van Uytvanck; worst match-up for the Italian, though, are power players like Hampton (who already scared Vinci in Fed Cup, on clay) and Keys.
No.3 of the seeding Cibulkova probably drew the worst first round, Kaia Kanepi. Cibulkova isn't at her best on clay, where the ball loses pace after the bounce and lessen the effects of her counterpounching.
For the same reason Kanepi is at her best on clay where she can find the best timing to hit the ball with her long swings.
Not an easy first round also for no.7 Lepchenko against Jovanovski. Also Lepchenko benefits of slower surfaces which give her "time to think" as Paire would say, and delivers at odd angles with her leftie forehand. Jovanovski, though, has quarterfinal to defend here.
Also in this section Stefanie Voegele, this girl impressed me in Charleston where she caused the upsed of Suarez-Navarro, Goerges and Wozniacki eventually losing to Jankovic in the semi after three tight sets. Voegele hits the ball very hard and could give hard time to anyone in her section.
Outright winner: Stephens 1 unit @17
WTA International, Internationaux de Strasbourg
Lower category and less interesting match-ups in Alsace.This region was highly disputed between France and Germany and -I may be wrong on this point- local pride is much strong and has anti-France tendencies.
Top seeded Bartoli French, from Corsica usually isn't crowd favourite.
The fourhanded French woman although not a great claycourter has some good results here (semifinal in 2007, runner-up to Petkovic in 2011), she also records a semifinal at the French Open.
Her section is an easy one and also the other seeded player, no.5 Niculescu, should create major problem for world number fourteen.
Projections are for an all-French semifinal against seeding no.3 Alize Cornet, a steady presence in Strasbourg; Cornet is 2012 runner-up to Schiavone.
Bartoli and Cornet have never met before, I admit I'd like to see this semifinal, it should be quite a drama.
Bottom half isn't more interesting.
Seeded players Paszek [2], Hsieh [4], McHale [6] and Hantuchova [8] aren't claycourter although all of them might be chasing points in minor events like this.
More interests raise physical condition of Muguruza, who seems to undergo surgery after Wimbledon, and Cetkovska at her first match since December.
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