Wimbledon 2012 Women's Singles Draw: Sharapova, Radwanksa in Top Half

World no. 1 Maria Sharapova is aiming for her second straight Grand Slam title, a feat she has not achieved in her career so far. But, the Sharapova will fancy her chances coming back to the major where she won her first Grand Slam at 17. The Wimbledon 2012 women's singles draw was announced last Friday, and Sharapova has a relatively easy draw into the round of 16 where she'll meet big-serving German 15th-seed Sabine Lisicki. Sharapova's possible quarterfinal opponents could be the no. 8-seed Angelique Kerber, or possibly Kim Clijsters who is currently unseeded. Clijsters and 18th-seed Jelena Jankovic will face-off in a first round meeting of former world no. 1 players.

In Sharapova's half of the draw is world no. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska. Radwanska will start against Magdalena Rybarikova in the first round before another potential second round against Venus Williams for the second Grand Slam in a row. Radwanska beat the older Williams in their second round encounter in last month's French Open and would be more challenged to do this in Wimbledon where Venus is a 5-time champion. World no. 5 Samantha Stosur looms to be Radwanska's quarterfinal opponent. Other notable players in this section of the draw include no. 11-seed Na Li, no. 20-seed Nadia Petrova, and no. 17-seed Maria Kirilenko.

The toughest quadrant of the draw features defending champion and no.4-seed Petra Kvitova and no.6-seed Serena Williams. Both players won the last three Wimbledon titles with Kvitova lifting her first major last year and Serena winning in 2009 and 2010. French Open finalist Sara Errani could be a potential fourth round opponent for Serena, while Dominika Cibulkova is Kvitova's highest possible seeded opponent in the fourth round. No. 19-seed Lucie Safarova and former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, the no. 24-seed are players to watch in this section of the draw.

World no. 2 Victoria Azarenka is at the bottom half of the draw and would look to regain the world no. 1 ranking with her first victory at Wimbledon. Azarenka has a dangerous first round opponent in talented young American Irina Falconi and she could face former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic, the no. 14-seed in the round of 16. Azarenka's is seeded to meet former world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals. Wozniacki has a potential fourth round match-up with 2007 finalist and no. 9-seed Marion Bartoli. ,

Top Half - 1st Section: Maria Sharapova (1) - Angelique Kerber (8)

SHARAPOVA, Maria RUS [1]
RODIONOVA, Anastasia AUS

DOLONC, Vesna SRB (Q)
PIRONKOVA, Tsvetana BUL

HSIEH, Su-Wei TPE
RAZZANO, Virginie FRA (W)

FORETZ GACON, Stephanie FRA
NICULESCU, Monica ROU [29]

CETKOVSKA, Petra CZE [23]
KING, Vania USA

STEPHENS, Sloane USA
PLISKOVA, Karolina CZE (Q)

JOVANOVSKI, Bojana SRB
DANIILIDOU, Eleni GRE

MARTIC, Petra CRO
LISICKI, Sabine GER [15]

ZVONAREVA, Vera RUS [12]
BARTHEL, Mona GER

GALLOVITS-HALL, Edina ROU
SOLER-ESPINOSA, Silvia ESP

CHANG, Kai-Chen TPE
HLAVACKOVA, Andrea CZE

CLIJSTERS, Kim BEL
JANKOVIC, Jelena SRB [18]

MCHALE, Christina USA [28]
KONTA, Johanna GBR (W)

TSURENKO, Lesia UKR
JOHANSSON, Mathilde FRA

MAKAROVA, Ekaterina RUS
BRIANTI, Alberta ITA

HRADECKA, Lucie CZE
KERBER, Angelique GER [8]

Top Half - 2nd Section: Agnieszka Radwanska (3) - Samantha Stosur (5)

RADWANSKA, Agnieszka POL [3]
RYBARIKOVA, Magdalena SVK

WILLIAMS, Venus USA
VESNINA, Elena RUS

BENESOVA, Iveta CZE
WATSON, Heather GBR

HAMPTON, Jamie Lee USA
HANTUCHOVA, Daniela SVK [27]

PETROVA, Nadia RUS [20]
CAMERIN, Maria Elena ITA (Q)

BABOS, Timea HUN
OUDIN, Melanie USA (W)

TANASUGARN, Tamarine THA
TATISHVILI, Anna GEO

GIORGI, Camila ITA (Q)
PENNETTA, Flavia ITA [16]

LI, Na CHN [11]
PERVAK, Ksenia KAZ

CIRSTEA, Sorana ROU
PARMENTIER, Pauline FRA

BROADY, Naomi GBR (W)
DOMINGUEZ LINO, Lourdes ESP

CADANTU, Alexandra ROU
KIRILENKO, Maria RUS [17]

PENG, Shuai CHN [30]
ZANIEWSKA, Sandra POL (Q)

GAJDOSOVA, Jarmila AUS
MORITA, Ayumi JPN

RUS, Arantxa NED
DOI, Misaki JPN (L)

SUAREZ NAVARRO, Carla ESP
STOSUR, Samantha AUS [5]

Bottom Half - 1st Section: Petra Kvitova (4) - Serena Williams (6)

WILLIAMS, Serena USA [6]
ZAHLAVOVA STRYCOVA, Barbora CZE

LARSSON, Johanna SWE
CZINK, Melinda HUN (Q)

DUSHEVINA, Vera RUS
WOZNIAK, Aleksandra CAN

DUBOIS, Stephanie CAN
ZHENG, Jie CHN [25]

SAFAROVA, Lucie CZE [19]
BERTENS, Kiki NED

SCHEEPERS, Chanelle RSA
SHVEDOVA, Yaroslava KAZ (W)

POUS-TIO, Laura ESP
KEOTHAVONG, Anne GBR

VANDEWEGHE, Coco USA (Q)
ERRANI, Sara ITA [10]

CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK [13]
ZAKOPALOVA, Klara CZE

GOVORTSOVA, Olga BLR
BECK, Annika GER (Q)

HERCOG, Polona SLO
PLISKOVA, Kristyna CZE (Q)

ROBSON, Laura GBR (W)
SCHIAVONE, Francesca ITA [24]

PAVLYUCHENKOVA, Anastasia RUS [31]
ARVIDSSON, Sofia SWE

MAYR-ACHLEITNER, Patricia AUT
LEPCHENKO, Varvara USA

BALTACHA, Elena GBR
KNAPP, Karin ITA

AMANMURADOVA, Akgul UZB
KVITOVA, Petra CZE [4]

Bottom Half - 2nd Section: Victoria Azarenka (2) - Caroline Wozniacki (7)

WOZNIACKI, Caroline DEN [7]
PASZEK, Tamira AUT

CORNET, Alize FRA
BRATCHIKOVA, Nina RUS

ARN, Greta HUN
VOSKOBOEVA, Galina KAZ

WICKMAYER, Yanina BEL
KUZNETSOVA, Svetlana RUS [32]

VINCI, Roberta ITA [21]
BARTY, Ashleigh AUS (W)

RADWANSKA, Urszula POL
ERAKOVIC, Marina NZL

LUCIC, Mirjana CRO (Q)
PANOVA, Alexandra RUS

DELLACQUA, Casey AUS
BARTOLI, Marion FRA [9]

IVANOVIC, Ana SRB [14]
MARTINEZ SANCHEZ, Maria Jose ESP

DATE-KRUMM, Kimiko JPN
BONDARENKO, Kateryna UKR

YAKIMOVA, Anastasiya BLR
MINELLA, Mandy LUX

PEER, Shahar ISR
GOERGES, Julia GER [22]

MEDINA GARRIGUES, Anabel ESP [26]
HALEP, Simona ROU

CEPELOVA, Jana SVK (Q)
MLADENOVIC, Kristina FRA (Q)

BEGU, Irina-Camelia ROU
OPRANDI, Romina SUI

FALCONI, Irina USA
AZARENKA, Victoria BLR [2]

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