With the qualifiers getting placed today.... I don't feel like much changed. I did a full write up of the male qualifier placements. And I don't want to short shrift the women having done that for the men. But it's not like what I do in this instance actually matters when it comes to equality. But mainly, having written that much, I just feel like it was a bit much. And furthermore, I feel less qualified to talk about the ladies qualifiers. The ladies just outside the top 100 always seems to be changing. There's always a bunch of new women. And I can't keep track. Not that I keep great track of the men's side at that level either.
But looking over the draw, where these women got placed, I don't feel like too much changed. There are a lot of lucky losers in addition to the wildcards. So those included with the qualifiers is a sizable portion of the draw. 28 players to be exact. 8 wildcards. 4 lucky losers. And the 16 qualifiers.
I was always worried about which qualifier Sloane would get. And I definitely feel like she got a tough one in Kalinskaya. But that comes down more to Sloane. The way she's been playing, just about anyone would be a tough out for her right now. She's got the goods to win the match and to win most of her matches usually. That just hasn't helped her at all this year. Getting back with Murray should help. Buuuuut I'm not gonna get my hopes up that it'll help all that much right off the bat.
Allertova getting Kvitova could be interesting. I feel like Allertova looked like she was on the rise there for a bit. She's tall like Kvitova. But it doesn't look like they've ever played. But I'd bet they both know each other's game a bit. Both being from the Czech Republic and all. The only reason I really mention this is because Kvitova hasn't been fit since the clay season. So we'll see where she's at.
Taylor Townsend gets Kozlova in the first round. A match either could win. Though the edge goes to Kozlova I think. But the winner likely gets Halep. Though lucky loser Gibbs would love to take advantage of her opportunity and pull off the Halep upset. It'd be the 3rd straight year Halep had fallen in the first round here. Gibbs isn't terrible. But I don't think she's got the goods to take down Halep. And neither should Townsend or Kozlova.
Martincova vs Pliskova in the first round could be interesting. Martincova is yet another tall Czech player, like Pliskova. They also have never played. Again. Something I find surprising. But. Again. I'd bet they know each other's games better than nothing. But nothing about Martincova's results over the years suggest she'll upset Pliskova at arguably her favorite and definitely her best slam.
Dolehide verse Wang Qiang, who is seeded at 18 this year, is interesting. Could be an opportunity for Dolehide. I don't feel like Qiang has had a good year. I may have missed it. But I don't think she's had too many good results. Her ranking and seeding is still largely from everything she did after the US Open last year. She's got just under 2650 points and 1900 of those come from the US Open on from last year. Assuming they let her use all of those particular points.
Peng Shuai has qualified. She's a former semifinalist here. Hampered by injuries for years now. Hasn't been able to get any momentum going. And is now 33. But she'll get lucky loser Lepchenko. And the winner of that gets the winner of Sakkari/Giorgi. The winner of Sakkari/Giorgi should be the woman to make the third round. But Peng or Lepchenko just might have what it takes to pull the upset.
Still. I'm seriously not sure any of the qualifiers matter. None of them are in any spots that could seriously threaten any of the top favorites for the title. And none of them have the goods to pull those upsets anyways. Not at the moment. I won't mention the others.
