Sharapova vs Serena, Kvitova in 2012 Mutua Madrid Open

The €3,755,140 WTA premier mandatory tennis tournament - the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open - is on-going in Madrid, Spain with 10 of the world's top women's tennis players all entered in the main draw singles. In the bottom half of the draw, world no. 2 Maria Sharapova, world no. 3 Petra Kvitova, and world no. 9 Serena Williams are the favorites to emerge and challenge world no. 1 for the biggest clay court title of the year so far. A breakdown of the draw for the bottom half of the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open is as follows:

Sharapova vs Serena quadrant: On paper, this should actually be a quadrant led by no. 2-seed Sharapova and no. 6-seed Caroline Wozniacki. However, the big clay court winners in April are no. 9-seed Serena and Sharapova. Serena convincingly won the Charleston tennis tournament by losing just 15 games along the way, while Sharapova won in Stuttgart with a loaded field where she beat three of the latest Grand Slam winners on her way to the trophy. This section of the draw will most likely feature a Sharapova vs Serena quarterfinals where judging on current form, Serena is a very slight favorite to advance.

This draw also features former world no. Jelena Jankovic as no. 15-seed. Potential seeded fourth round match-ups are Wozniacki vs Serena, and Jankovic vs Sharapova. Jankovic and Wozniacki hasn't done well on clay so far, and it is highly likely the Serena's round of 16 challenger will come from the winner of the first round between talented Germans Mona Barthel and Julia Goerges. Quadrant Favorite: SERENA. Unseeded Darkhorse: BARTHEL

Kvitova vs Stosur quadrant: Defending champion Kvitova won her biggest tournament at that time last year in Madrid and it put her in the top 10 of the world for the first time. She of course went on to win Wimbledon in a stellar 2011 season. She is expected to do well again this year as she shrugged off some early losses in March with a solid semi-final finish in her last tournament in Stuttgart. Kvitova will most likely be challenged by world no. 5 and US Open champion Samantha Stosur in this section of the draw.

Stosur is an accomplished clay court player herself having reached the finals of the French Open in 2010. Her seeded fourth round opponent is no. 9-seed Vera Zvonareva who hasn't accomplished much in recent tournaments. Kvitova may be challenged by no. 16-seed Maria Kirilenko but it's most likely that she'll emerge as the semifinalist from this quadrant. Quadrant Favorite: KVITOVA. Unseeded Darkhorse: SHUAI PENG

Related Article: Azarenka vs Radwanska expected in 2012 Mutua Madrid Open's top half of the draw

Mutua Madrid Open - List of Singles Winners
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2009 Dinara Safina beat Caroline Wozniacki 6–2, 6–4
2010 Aravane Rezaï beat Venus Williams 6–2, 7–5
2011 Petra Kvitová beat Victoria Azarenka 7–6(7–3), 6–4

Mutua Madrid Open - List of Doubles Winners
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2009 Cara Black & Liezel Huber beat Květa Peschke & Lisa Raymond 4–6, 6–3, [10–6]
2010 Serena Williams & Venus Williams beat Gisela Dulko & Flavia Pennetta 6–2, 7–5
2011 Victoria Azarenka & Maria Kirilenko beat Květa Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik 6–4, 6–3