Both are in action today.  Who is playing better than she was in 2014?

Predicted Winners in BOLD

ROD LAVER ARENA

[13] Venus Williams (USA) vs [Q] Stefanie Voegele (SUI) – Venus seems less likely to be troubled in a match like this than she was 2-4 years ago.

[1] Angelique Kerber (GER) vs. Carina Witthoeft (GER) – Kerber looked a little shaky in round 1.

[7] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) vs. Samantha Crawford (USA) – An upset here would not shock me, but Muguruza has to be favored.

MARGARET COURT ARENA

[11] Elina Svitolina (UKR) vs [Q]  Julia Boserup (USA)

[8] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) vs [WC] Jaimee Fourlis (AUS) – Kuzy keeps plugging away.

Shelby Rogers (USA) vs. [WC] Ashleigh Barty (AUS) –  Home fans make a difference?

HISENSE ARENA

Jelena Jankovic (SRB) vs Julia Goerges (GER) – Jankovic enters this match with a decent shot at winning, but I lean toward Goerges in my gut.

Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) vs Shuai Peng (CHN) – Bouchard seems to be making strides toward a return to the top 15, but this is the type of match she has to win if this is a real push.

SHOW COURT 2

[24] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs [Q] Natalia Vikhlyantseva (RUS) – These Russian Civil Wars are fun.

SHOW COURT 3

[20] Shuai Zhang (CHN) vs Alison Riske (USA) – Riske for the upset

[10] Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) vs. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) – If Cirstea doesn’t let CSN open the court up, she can win.  I think Cirstea pulls through in a fun match.

COURT 7

[29] Monica Puig (PUR) vs [Q] Mona Barthel (GER) – Puig’s ceiling is quite high.  

COURT 8

Varvara Lepchenko (USA) vs Ying-Ying Duan (CHN)

Coco Vandeweghe (USA) vs Pauline Parmentier (FRA) 

COURT 13

[32] Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) vs. Kristina Kucova (SVK) 

COURT 20

[27] Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) vs Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) – Pliskova’s serve could make this a duel, but Begu has a lot of game.