Australian Open – Women's draw: Williams could face Halep in fourth round

Simona Halep wont definitely have an easy Australian Open first round match. The Romanian will face Kaia Kanepi, who already defeated her at last years US Open in a straight-set match. Halep would face Sofia Kenin or a qualifier in the second round, then Mihaela Buzarnescu in the third and the former world No.

1 Serena Williams in the fourth round. The American will make her debut against Tatjana Maria, then Serena would face Eugenie Bouchard or Shuai Peng in the second round and the Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro in the third. If Williams beats Halep, the 23-time Grand Slam winner would collide with the seventh seed Karolina Pliskova in the quarter-finals.

In the semis, Williams would play against Naomi Osaka or Elina Svitolina. The Japanese defeated Serena in the very controversial last years US Open final. In the bottom half Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber and Sloane Stephens are set to face each other in the quarters.

Maria Sharapova could play against Wozniacki, a defending champion, in the third round. The Russian leads head to head meetings 6-4, they last faced each other at 2015 Madrid with Sharapova prevailing in three sets, 6-1 3-6 6-3.
In press conference Svitolina commented on her goals for 2019: I played great in the end of the season, said the 2018 WTA Finals champion.

But, you know, of course, the main goal for me is to be No. 1 and win a Grand Slam. But I try to, you know, dont think so much about it, dont have this pressure because, you know, everyone is fighting for the same thing.

There is enough pressure thats put on us. Yeah, it motivates me, of course. But, you know, I dont think so much about it. For me, its just about playing good tennis, being 100 per cent ready for each match.