Wimbledon 2012: Top Female Stars Still in the Hunt for Title

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Despite three relatively large upsets taking place in the first two rounds of the ladies draw at Wimbledon, there remains a ton of wonderful female players vying for the 2012 title. 

Though Venus Williams went out in the first round and Sam Stosur and Li Na in the second, the field is still quite strong as we near the second week of the tournament. 

Here are the top stars left along with their next matchup. 

No. 2 Victoria Azarenka

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Victoria Azarenka was the No. 1 player in the world prior to the French Open when she was upset by Dominika Cibulkova in the fourth round. That loss opened the door for Maria Sharapova to capture a relatively easy French Open win. 

She has responded nicely at the All England Club thus far, winning in straight sets both times (6-1, 6-4 over Irina Falconi and 6-2, 6-0 over Romina Oprandi). 

Saturday she faces Jana Cepelova (8:30 a.m. ET on ESPN), who, oh by the way, happens to be ranked 178th in the world. It seems nearly impossible she loses Saturday. But if she does, it would undoubtedly become one of the greatest upsets in Wimbledon history. 

No. 4 Petra Kvitova

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Petra Kvitova hasn't been quite as dominating in her first two matches as Azarenka, but she has won in straight sets both times thus far. 

Her first-round matchup featured two sets in which she won 6-4 against Akgul Amanmuradova. Her second match went a little more smoothly as she won 6-0, 6-4 over the native Brit Elena Baltacha. 

She faces (get this) American Varvara Lepchenko in the third round at 8 a.m. ET Saturday on ESPN. 

No. 10 Sara Errani

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Sara Errani enjoyed an unforgettable journey through the French Open less than a month ago. That tournament boosted her into the Top 10 of WTA world rankings. 

And she hasn't looked back in this tournament since gaining that illustrious ranking. 

In two matches, and four sets, she has lost just six total games. Half of those came in her second set against Coco Vandeweghe in the opening round Tuesday. In her other three sets she has dropped just one game a piece. 

Errani is playing as well as any lady not named Maria Sharapova. Perhaps a French Open finals rematch is in store for tennis fans. 

Errani faces Yaroslava Shvedova in the third round Saturday (9:30 a.m. ET on ESPN). 

 

Note: Errani was the victim of Yaroslava Shvedova's golden set Saturday at Wimbledon. Errani is now gone. 

No. 6 Serena Williams

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Serena Williams has won four times at Wimbledon. She'd love to make it five this year. If she does, it would be by far the most surprising of her wins. 

Though still ranked No. 6 in the world, Williams has lost a step and is no longer the player she once was. Her ranking is mostly due to her way back past success and the fact she managed to play well at a few majors in 2010 and 2011. 

That said, she's been as good in her first two matches as any player mentioned thus far (with the exception of Errani). 

In the first round she won 6-2, 6-4 over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. Then in the second round she won even more impressively (6-1, 6-4 over Melinda Czink). 

Saturday she faces No. 25 Zheng Zie in the third round (8 a.m. ET on ESPN). She is one of only two seeded players to face another seeded player in their next round (Maria Sharapova faces 15th-seeded Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round). 

No. 8 Angelique Kerber

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On the other half of the bracket is Angelique Kerber and the remainder of the players to come. They have all played three matches thus far. 

Kerber has held serve (no pun intended) to this point, not losing a set (though taken to a seventh game in her opening set in the second round against Ekaterina Makarova). 

In no other set has Kerber lost more than three games. She has been great thus far, and is playing the way a No. 8 seed would be expected to play. 

She faces former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters in the fourth round (match info TBD). 

No. 1 Maria Sharapova

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Maria Sharapova is sometimes known as the queen of grunting. Reports have surfaced that grunting will be phased out of the women's game over time (h/t William Weinbaum, ESPN.com).

None of that matters in the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. She's grunted her way to a relatively easy place in the fourth round; though her second-round match against Tsvetana Pironkova featured some bumps in the road (three sets with tiebreakers played in the first two before Sharapova swept her under the rug in the third set). 

Fifteenth-seed Sabine Lisicki awaits Sharapova in the fourth round. Sharapova has a tough road facing a fellow seeded player. But if any part of her game has been exhibited over the past month, it's that she is mentally tough. 

No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska

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No player has a more difficult name to spell that Agnieszka Radwanska. There are no i's to dot or t's to cross but it's plain difficult. 

On that note, she has been plain difficult on her opponents in the championships so far.

She lost three games each in her first round win over Magdalena Rybarikova. Then against Elena Vesnina she lost three games total in her two dominating sets.

Finally, playing against the homeland Heather Watson she got even better, winning 6-0, 6-2.

The second-hottest player in the tournament (in terms of who is playing the best) faces Camila Giorgi in the fourth round.

 

Much of this list could be irrelevant come the time I wake up Saturday morning on the West Coast. But it also could be all intact as well. Watch on Saturday to find out just how right, or wrong, I am.

 

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