Playing beneath a roof often reveals just how high a ceiling Petrova Kvitova has to her game. Though the Czech won her lone major on grass, she's an all-surface threat, having won titles on hard, grass, and clay courts, and reaching the semifinals of every major except the U.S. Open. The world No. 8 is at her best indoors, where she can disarm opponents and detonate points with a single swing, attacking with her flat drives from the baseline and angled finesse from the front court.
Predicting which Kvitova will appear on a tournament-to-tournament basis can be as tricky, though. Will we see the brilliant ball-striker who swept Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Sara Errani to win her 10th career title in Dubai last month? Or will the player prone to inconsistency and prematurely pulling the trigger on her down-the-line drives, who struggled to put together successive wins through the early part of the season, return? The fact this is a lower-profile tournament just a few hours from her home in Fulnek should help Kvitova make the successful transition from hard courts to clay.
Second-seeded Roberta Vinci, who opens against Charleston doubles finalist Andrea Hlavackova, has been playing some of her best tennis this season. Vinci's court-sense, net skills, and the combination of her heavy topspin forehand and slice backhand should help her make inroads into the draw.
Lourdes Domínguez Lino saved a match point in a second-set tiebreaker yesterday to subdue eighth-seeded Laura Robson, 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-1, in the type of comeback win that could serve as a springboard for the 59th-ranked Spaniard.
Two-time French Open quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi, who has been sidelined with a right Achilles injury, returns to WTA action in her first tournament since playing Tokyo last September. Kanepi is a power player who can hit through virtually anyone when she's landing her strikes, or hit her way right out of a match when she's impatient and trying to squeeze shots too close to the lines.
Ultimately, this tournament is in Kvitova's hands, and if she reproduces the level of tennis she displayed in Doha and Dubai, stays positive, and maintains intensity on every point, I like her chances here.
The Pick: Petra Kvitova
Casablanca (Draw)
Pablo Andujar has cleaned up in Casablanca, posting a 9-0 record and winning his both of his two career ATP titles there. The unseeded Spaniard has failed to survive the opening round in six of his nine tournaments this season, so his return to comfortable clay surroundings should help him halt his slide.
Andujar resides is in the bottom half of the draw along with big-serving, No. 2 seed Kevin Anderson, who has made a quick comeback from elbow surgery with quarterfinal appearances in Delray Beach and Indian Wells, and the talented, erratic lefty Martin Klizan, who has lost four straight matches and is just 8-11 lifetime on clay.
Top-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka is playing doubles with Benoit Paire today, which should help him acclimate him to court conditions in his first match in Casablanca since he captured the 2010 tournament title. Wawrinka, a finalist at this year's clay event in Buenos Aires, can change spins and speeds to create acute angles and unsettle opponents, and has a weapon of a first serve. If he's hitting his backhand down the line with authority and accuracy, he can spread the court effectively.
While the Casablanca court has infused Andujar with confidence and some swagger, Wawrinka has more weapons than any man in the field. The sturdy Swiss with the whipping one-handed backhand should navigate a top half of the draw that includes the fourth-seeded Paire, former world No. 5 Tommy Robredo, and sixth-seeded Daniel Gimeno-Traver, whom Wawrinka swept in Buenos Aires.
Players often say the toughest task in tennis is to win when you're expected to, and Stan hasn't always answered the call when favored. Though this is a 250-level tournament, Casablanca will be a mental and emotional test for Wawrinka, who has only three career titles to his credit and is bidding for his first championship since winning Chennai in 2011. Still, if Stan holds his nerve and tempers his power with patience, I see him prevailing.
The Pick: Stanislas Wawrinka
Houston (Draw)
