Wozniacki Handed Challenging Draw

Caroline Wozniacki, World No. 1 and top seed at the Sony Ericsson Open, drew a difficult quarter today, with some potentially challenging early-round match-ups. She took the tour by storm with a win at Indian Wells on Sunday, but is set for a third round meeting with Daniela Hantuchova, who won her fourth WTA title in February at Pattaya City, and could meet number six seed Jelena Jankovic, last year’s winner of Indian Wells, in the quarterfinals.

Wozniacki sits on the opposite side of the draw from the defending champion, Kim Clijsters, who, despite retiring with a shoulder injury from the fourth round at Indian Wells last week, is set to play this year in Miami. Clijsters has won the only two meetings with Wozniacki, and won the Australian Open earlier this year.

The projected match-up for Clijsters places her in line with Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the third round, and potentially Kaia Kanepi or Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round.

Fourth seed Sam Stosur was on site for the draw, and noted the quality of the women’s side this year, from her potential first match-up against either Sorana Cirstea or Jie Zheng, to former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and Li Na, the runner up at this year’s Australian Open. Na defeated Wozniacki to move onto the finals at the Australian.

Maria Sharapova, the runner-up at this tournament in 2005 and 2006, is also in Stosur’s quarter, and comes to Miami off a strong performance at Indian Wells, where she reached the semifinals, but lost to Wozniacki.

A former two-time doubles champion with Lisa Raymond, Stosur could also face her doubles partner from last year’s tournament, Nadia Petrova, in the third round. Stosur’s success at Miami in past years sets her up for a solid singles performance.

“It’s a nice tournament. It’s a pretty lively place, Miami,” said Stosur, “so hopefully I’ll be here for a little while and can really enjoy it.”

With three former champions in the field, Clijsters, Kuznetsova and Victoria Azarenka, and a powerful top seed, this year’s women’s side will likely prove an animated competition.

Wozniacki strong performances at Indian Wells makes her a formidable opponent, along with tough contenders like Li Na and Vera Zvonareva, the progression of the draw is difficult to predict.

“It’s like a grand slam, this tournament, so you’ve got to be on for every single match,” Stosur said.

ABOUT SONY ERICSSON: Sony Ericsson is a 50:50 joint venture by Sony and Ericsson established in October 2001, with global corporate functions located in London and operations in all major markets.  Our vision is to become the industry leader in Communication Entertainment; where new styles of communicating through the internet and social media, become entertainment.  Sony Ericsson offers exciting consumer experiences through phones, accessories, content and applications, for more information please visit: www.sonyericsson.com.  Sony Ericsson is the title sponsor of the Women's Tennis Association, and works with the Association to promote the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in over 80 cities during the year. For more information, please visit www.sonyericssonwtatour.com.