Beware: Sixteen Women to Watch Out for at the Australian Open

In the final installment of my 2010 Australian Open preview of the women's draw, here are 16 other players that could certainly cause a problem or two.

For more coverage, you can also visit my round-by-round guide or my analysis of the top 16 women's seeds.

Justin Henin

The unseeded Justine Henin is a very dangerous prospect for the rest of the field. After plowing through Nadia Petrova, Melinda Czink, and Ana Ivanovic in Brisbane last week, nobody will want to face the Belgian who came just a tiebreaker away from upsetting champion Kim Clijsters.

She pulled out of Sydney with a left gluteal strain but appears healthy enough to play on Monday. The seven-time Grand Slam champion has every reason to be confident heading into the tournament that she won six years ago.

Henin has no ranking after returning to competition and she will not be ranked until she has contested three tournaments on the WTA Tour or grand slam circuit.

The one person who should be at least a little worried is likely second round opponent and Sydney champion Elena Dementieva.

Jelena Dokic

Dokic was without a doubt one of the surprise stories from the 2009 Australian Open. In the second quarter of the draw with the likes of Dinara Safina, Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, and Anna Chakvetadze, nobody really expected the then-No. 187-ranked player in the world to make a serious impact in the competition. After all, she hadn’t won a Grand Slam singles match since 2003

As a wild card at the Australian Open, Dokic defeated Tamira Paszek, world No. 17 Anna Chakvetadze in the second round, 6–4, 6–7, 6–3 and 11th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the third round 3–6, 6–1, 6–2. Dokic then advanced to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2002 after defeating 29th-seeded Alisa Kleybanova 7–5, 5–7, 8–6.

While her dream run was stopped by Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals, Dokic—an adopted Australian but of Croatian and Serbian descent—gained the love and adulation she once enjoyed back in 2002 and 2003.

She finished 2009 as the world’s No. 56 but failed to make much impact in the two warm-up events to Melbourne at the start of 2010. She was knocked out of Brisbane by Ana Ivanovic in the first round, and she was truly awful in her second round match at Hobart when she made over 40 unforced errors against Shahar Peer in round two.

The tears at the end of her defeat let you know that she’s not where she needs to be right now, but as a floater in the draw, she could still cause an upset or two.

Alisa Kleybanova is no pushover, but there's many reasons to think that Dokic can make it into round two.

Maria Kirilenko

After making it to the third round of the Australian Open in 2006 and 2007, and to the fourth round in 2008, Kirilenko was dumped out in round one 12 months ago.

No longer a top-32 player, the 22-year-old Russian currently sits at No. 63 in the world. She was a finalist in Barcelona last year as well as a semifinalist in Seoul, and she improved in Grand Slams throughout the season, making it to the third round of the US Open last September.

A quarterfinal defeat to Shahar Peer in Auckland two weeks ago wasn’t the best thing for her confidence, although she did show signs of fight in the middle set of a 6-0, 3-6, 6-1 bashing. Kirilenko’s game is suited to the harder courts and she could cause an upset. She has improved her service action and likes to make little forays into the net, making her exciting to watch when she’s playing well.

Maria Sharapova is first up for Kirilenko, and while she may feel unlucky to draw a seed in round one, there are a lot worse draws she could have been given.

Alicia Molik

Alicia Molik is a sweetheart of the Australian crowd. Born in Adelaide and living in Perth, Molik scrapes just inside the world’s top 200 at No. 198.

This will be her 11th Australian Open and third as a wild-card entrant. Her best run came in 2005 when she reached the semifinals, seeded 10th.

Nobody liked playing a hometown favourite, but there is a good chance that Francesca Schiavone will have to face her in round two, assuming she sees off Julie Coin.

Carla Suarez Navarro

The 21-year-old Spaniard had a memorable run at Melbourne Park in 2009, famously knocking out Venus Williams in the second round after losing the opening set and facing match point in the second. She also dispatched compatriot Anabel Medina Garrigues in the fourth round before going out to Elena Dementieva in the quarters.

At only 5’4”, Suarez Navarro doesn’t pack the same kind of punch as any of the big hitters, but her single-handed cross-court backhand is a very dangerous weapon. She has the full repertoire of shots and is good enough on the hard courts to warrant attention.

She wasn’t great last week in Auckland against eventual runner-up Flavia Pennetta, but she can give any of the other seeds problems if given the chance.

By creeping in as the lowest-ranked seed in the tournament, she will not have to play another seed until the third round. Currently the world’s No. 33, Suarez Navarro was bumped up one spot because of Yanina Wickmayer having to enter through the qualifying tournament this week. On Thursday she lost in the quarterfinals of Hobart to No. 2 Shahar Peer.

The first two matches against Ayumi Morita and Andrea Petkovic shouldn't be a problem, but her potential third round clash with Serena Williams could be a beauty.

Yanina Wickmayer

Wickmayer looked impressive in Auckland two weeks ago as she won the tournament without dropping a set. She defeated Shahar Peer in the semifinals and top seed Flavia Pennetta in the final, so she is very much for real.

Wickmayer, who reached the semifinals of last year’s US Open had her charge up the rankings abruptly halted in November when she was given a one-year ban by the Flemish Anti-doping for apparently failing to comply with rules about making herself available for drug-testing.

Even though a civil court overruled the verdict, the decision came too late for her to enter the Australian Open as a seed. When she was refused a wild-card spot, Wickmayer had to enter the qualifying tournament.

Wickmayer, who is 6’0” tall and strong off both wings, looked nervous against unseeded Yurika Sema of Japan in the first qualifying round, coming from behind to win 4-6, 6-0, 7-5. There were no such problems against Brit Naomi Cavaday as she destroyed the No. 204 6-1, 6-0.

Elena Baltacha

Great Britain’s Elena Baltacha has been climbing up the world rankings in each of the last four seasons, finally breaking into the top 100 last year and reaching a career-best ranking of No. 83 just last week

Although she has been around the tour since turning professional as a 14-year-old back in 1997, Baltacha has never really been a major threat in the women’s game. As a qualifier, she knocked out former world No. 14 Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the first round of the event last year before losing to Amelie Mauresmo of France in three sets in round two.

The British women’s No. 1 has won a total of eight Grand Slam matches before, and if she can see of Kateryna Bondarenko in round two, she could meet Safina in the third.

Iveta Benesova

The Czech 26-year-old will be among the best non-seeded players at the competition.

While she has never been past the third round in any Grand Slam, Benesova won three tournaments in 2008 and reached the final of Hobart last year.

She went 0-9 against top 16 opponents, but she will not be a player any of the seeds will want to face. Although she lost in the first round of Brisbane to Andrea Petkovic, don't count Benesova out.

Kai-Chen Chang is first up, but with the potential of facing three seeds (Azarenka, Zvonareva, and Ivanovic) in the second, third, and fourth round, don't expect her to be in the quarterfinals.

Alberta Brianti

Brianti cracked the world's top 100 in 2009, reaching her first tour singles final at Guangzhou. After spending three years ranked between 106 and 144, Brianti climbed as high as No. 67 after qualifying for three of the four majors.

Her biggest scalp of 2009 came against fourth seed and world No. 36 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round on the clay of Palermo.

She will meet Vavara Lepchenko in the first round, with possible key clashes with Sabine Lisicki and Sam Stosur later in the tournament.

Anna Chakvetadze

Whatever happened to the Russian teenager who looked like a world-beater in 2007?

Chakvedadze, once the world's No. 5, has dropped to No. 70 in the world after a string of disappointing tournaments that began at the 2008 US Open. After crashing out in the first round at Flushing Meadows, Chakvetadze failed to make it past the second round in any of the Grand Slams of 2009.

She still proved to be a thorn in the side of many top players, defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues in Rome, Jelena Jankovic in Eastbourne, Virginie Razzano in Los Angeles, and Nadia Petrova in New Haven.

She has slipped to her lowest top-100 ranking in six years, but she still has a top-32 game when she is on. It wasn't on at the ASB Classic in Auckland when she got ripped apart by 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm, but the skills are there somewhere.

The days of quarterfinals in grand slams may be behind her, but don't bet against her dispatching of a seed early on in Melbourne.

Her first round clash with Italian Flavia Pannetta could be fantastic.

Sorana Cirstea

The Romanian teenager announced herself to the world with a run to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last spring. While she won't be seeded in Australia, Cirstea is one of those players on the bubble of the world's top 32.

A member of the Romanian Fed Cup squad and Olympic team, Cirstea hits the ball well from both wings and has been described as being deceptively quick around the court.

On the red clay in Paris last year, Cirstea defeated No. 21 seed Alize Cornet, No. 10 Caroline Wozniacki, and No. 5 Jelena Jankovic. Later in the year she upset Wozniacki again, this time in the LA Women's Championships where the Dane was the No. 4 seed.

Wozniacki got her revenge in the third round of the US Open, sending Cirstea on a six-game losing streak. A win in Melbourne is not an impossibility, although without match practice it will be a tough task.

She is in the most difficult section of the draw, so unless she can beat Olivia Rogowska, Alisa Kleybanova, Elena Dementieva, and Flavia Pannetta, she's not going to make the second week.

Melinda Czink

Czink stormed into the world's top 50 in 2009, climbing as high as 37th after a two-year absence from the game's top 100. Among her successes was an International Tournament victory on the carpet of Quebec City.

The Hungarian 27-year-old took Justine Henin all the way in Brisbane before losing a third-set tiebreaker in the quarterfinals 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5). She has the ability to beat a top 10 star, but she'll need everything to go her way.

I'm looking forward to her second match against Victoria Azarenka.

Kimiko Date Krumm

Date Krumm, at 40 years old, is the matriarch of the WTA tour. She came out of retirement in May 2008 after only playing one professional doubles match since calling it quits back in 1996.

After winning three ITF tournaments in 2008, Date Krumm won her first Tour title in more than 12 years in 2009 at Seoul. This season, she defeated both Anna Chakvetadze and Virginie Razzano in Auckland before losing to eventual winner Yanina Wickmayer. Only time will tell if she has one more year of competitive Grand Slam tennis in her.

A second round match against No. 28 Elena Vesnina awaits should she dispatch Yaroslava Shvedova.

Alexandra Dulgheru

The 20-year-old Romanian climbed as high as No. 51 in November last year after rocketing more than 300 places in the rankings from No. 385 at the end of 2008.

She has only ever been in one Grand Slam (2009 US Open) but she is one of my virtually unknown dark horses. She claimed mini-prominence in the tennis world back in Warsaw last year when, as a No. 201 qualifier in her first Tour main draw of her career, she defeated Sara Errani, Daniela Hantuchova, and Alona Bondarenko.

She lost in the first round at Auckland a fortnight ago to Slovakina Dominika Cibulkova, but she could easily upset a top-50 player if given a shot.

Gisela Dulko

Dulko has been a top 100 player for six years now, climbing as high at No. 26 five years ago. Currently ranked No. 37, Dulko will be looking to improve on her fourth round run at the US Open last September.

The Argentine beat players like Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, Alona Bondarenko, and Jie Zheng last year, so she certainly has the game to back up her top-50 ranking.

She beat Melinda Czink in straight sets at Hobart last week and put a torrid second set against Tamira Paszek behind her to advance to the quarterfinals where she went out in three sets against top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues.