WTA Open de Suez & Pattaya

This week there are two tournaments to look forward to as the women's tour gets back to normality after the Australian Open. Players will either be looking to carry on their good form from Melbourne or trying to get back into their rhythm after a disappointing spell down under. There are a number of the best players in the world playing this week which makes for two very interesting tournaments.
          Starting with the event in Paris this week, the Open de Suez. Last year, Angelique Kerber won her first tour event at this tournament but she isn't playing this week so we will have a new champion. The top seed this week is Sara Errani, who left the Australian Open singles in the early rounds, and she will see this as a great chance to get back into form. If she's on top form I can see her going all the way but there are a number of potentially tricky ties for her along the way, most notably a clash with Dominika Cibulkova. She should be full of confidence after winning the Australian Open doubles with Roberta Vinci who is also competing here.
         Unseeded Mona Barthel is well worth watching this week after a strong start to the year. She faces Vinci in round two but I could see her winning that and reaching the latter stages. Marion Bartoli was the beaten finalist last year and she should have a strong week here despite a tricky draw. Julia Goerges is a dangerous player too. She has plenty of talent and will fancy herself against most people in the draw this week. Second seed Petra Kvitova has had a nightmare start to the season but she will eventually find her form, whether it's this week or not is like predicting the weather. A possible sleeper in the draw is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The young Russian disappointed in Melbourne but has started the year well and I expect her to be a big name this season. Similarly I see Tsvetana Pironkova as a danger this week if she's on form. She reminds me a lot of Richard Gasquet. She has the talent but whether she can now put in the hard work to become consistent is the challenge. This week is tough to call with such talent taking part. Petra Kvitova is the 10/3 favourite but I can't confidently back someone in such poor form. Cibulkova is at 6/1 and Errani at 13/2 but I'm going with Marion Bartoli at 7/2 this week.
           In Pattaya this week we have another top class draw with Ana Ivanovic leading the field as top seed. I think she's improving steadily and will eventually rejoin the winners circuit on a consistent basis. This week is a chance for her to get some good form going. Second seed this week is Maria Kirilenko and she is a player I like. She had a good run in Melbourne but she was simply overpowered by Serena. She has the game to compete here this week and be a serious contender. Defending champion Daniela Hantuchova is back to defend her title and she has fond memories here with two titles to her name. Sabine Lisicki had a nightmare third set against Wozniacki in Melbourne and she will be looking to put that behind her here with a good run. Elena Vesnina has been incredible so far this season and so this week she might be looking at a run to the championship. There is a lot of quality on show this week and Ivanovic is your 7/2 favourite. Lisicki is almost 6/1 which could represent good value, as does Hantuchova at 10/1. I'm torn between two Russian ladies this week. I like Kirilenko at 4/1 but my pick this week is Vesnina at 11/2.