For the men's Indian Wells preview, click here.
Regarding the Indian Wells women's draw, I'd be tempted to say that with the cats away, the mice get to come out and play. And this would be a fair assessment of an event where the top three seeds are Svetlana Kuznetsova, Caroline Wozniacki, and Victoria Azarenka, while Venus and Serena Williams are elsewhere. Except that this year two other cats—athletic ones at that—have returned. Tucked away in the quiet regions of the draw you’ll find the names of (unseeded) Justine Henin and (No. 14 seed) Kim Clijsters—I was startled, in a good way, to see them as I scanned down the names. In the last two majors, they’ve come from similarly obscure positions to win a title and reach a final. Is Indian Wells the next tournament to get the Belgian treatment?
First Quarter
Kuznetsova's top billing didn’t come with any perks. She'll get Clijsters in the round of 16. But should we worry about Kim II’s consistency, after her sleepwalk through Melbourne? She didn’t react well to a bad day, and Alisa Kleybanova, her likely third-round opponent, is good enough to make her pay for another. If Clijsters builds momentum, though, you have to pick her over Kuzzie. She’s 7-1 against the Russian.
The other side of this section, where Jelena Jankovic is scheduled to meet Flavia Pennetta in the fourth round, is more haphazard. At first glance, it seems like Petra Kvitova, Dominika Cibulkova and Shahar Peer might find themselves with a shot at going deeper in the draw.
—First-round match to watch: Alize Cornet vs. Carla Suarez Navarro. Nice games on both of them, though neither is a world-beater.
Semifinalist: Clijsters
Second Quarter
Here we have a collection of what you might call last year’s girls: Vera Zvonareva and Ana Ivanovic, the 2009 IW finalists, as well as semifinalists Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Victoria Azarenka. And you can throw two-time champ Hantuchova in with them. Who can rekindle the fire? Azarenka and Pavlyuchenkova have started well this year, while Ivanovic, as we know, hasn’t. Zvonareva remains a mystery. Seemingly unbeatable during certain weeks, she nonetheless disappears, due to injury or emotional overload, for long stretches. Her draw—she might play Ivanovic early—gives her a pretty good shot at making another reappearance.
Two other names stand out: Yanina Wickmayer and Sam Stosur. They were two of the tour’s most improved in 2009, and they play appealingly physical games. Does either have enough to make herself this year's girl?
—Others to watch: Melanie Oudin, who plays Italy’s Roberta Vinci. Blast from the past qualifier Karolina Sprem. And blast from the future qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito.
Semifinalist: Wickmayer
**
Still unseeded, Henin will likely collide with Dementieva in a marquee fourth-rounder. (Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images)Third Quarter**
Pity Magdalena Rybarkova. Here she is in the softest section of a Premier draw that she’ll likely see in her life, and whose name shows up right beside hers? Polona Hercog, maybe? Melinda Czink, hopefully? The pushing-40 Kimiko Date Krumm, please? No, it's Justine Henin, who owns nearly as many majors as every other player in the tournament combined.
Who else is here? Elena Dementieva is the top seed, followed by Agnieszka Radwanska, and then Marion Bartoli, and then Francesca Schiavone, and then Aravane Rezai, and then . . . do I need to continue? Well, actually, Sabine Lisicki is also around, and she’s dangerous if you catch in the right two-hour window. I look forward to a fourth-round sequel to the Henin-Dementieva tussle in Melbourne. We should have gotten a third set that time, anyway.
Another ghostly name from the past: Anna Chakvetadze. Is she ready to do anything again? She might get Kuznetsova early.
—Sleeper: Bartoli
Semifinalist: Henin
Steve Tignor is the executive editor of TENNIS magazine.