AS the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Draft Central is extending the fantasy tennis coverage throughout the ATP and WTA seasons to simulate tournaments and see just how they might have gone down. The next WTA tournament to be completed will be the Indian Wells, which was meant to be held in March. The current top 100 in WTA rankings will compete, bar tough competitors in Simona Halep, Bianca Andreescu, Angelique Kerber and Victoria Azarenka who are all currently recovering from injury.

FAVOURITE:

Karolina Pliskova (CZE)

Second seed Pliskova is unstoppable at times but has had a shaky 2020 since winning the Brisbane International in January, since then failing to get further than the Round of 16 and falling to competitors ranked far lower. But despite her slow decline following the Brisbane title, Pliskova is a force to be reckoned with, with an aggressive serve and competitive nature to match winning 87 per cent of her service games. Pliskovas is the top ranked hard court player in the WTA rankings, so expect to see her go far in the competition.

CONTENDERS:

Ash Barty (AUS)

First seed and with an ability to compete well on all surfaces, Barty will be one to beat despite a slow start to 2020. For Barty it will mostly depend on her draw, with the talented young Aussie able to compete with many but also has the tendency to get in her own head, falling to lower opposition. However, Barty did collect the Adelaide International title in January and made it to the quarter finals in both the Australian Open and Qatar Open, meaning she does have the drive to go all the way to match with her 2019 form which saw her take out four titles, including the Roland Garros.

Sofia Kenin (USA)

The reigning Grand Slam victor, Kenin is one to watch with titles at the Australian Open and Lyon proving her strength this year. She is difficult to stop once she gets going especially on hard surface, but is still young so her consistency leaves much to be desired. That being said, the third seed will be a tough contestant with a strong year behind her and her entire career ahead of her.

Serena Williams (USA)

She may not have the current ranking but sits in seventh seed coming into Indian Wells and just her name alone can see competitors lose their focus, making Williams one of those constant threats on the circuit. That being said, she hasn’t taken the court much in 2020 and her third round exit at the Australian Open shocked many, but she won her first ITF title in Auckland in January since the 2017 Australian Open, meaning she cannot truly be ruled out.

ROUGHIE:

Naomi Osaka (JPN)

Osaka has the ability to beat anyone on her day, so is a real tough ask with plenty of talent and willingness to take on her opposition. She is not one to back down and fight back from a lowly set but can tend to lose control of her return. That being said, her constant baseline drive and speed across the court has her threatening even the toughest of competition, though her inconsistency on the international circuit this year has seen her drop out of the top 5 in WTA rankings for the first time since 2017.

DARK HORSE:

Belinda Bencic (SUI)

With plenty of dark horses in the draw, one cannot look past Belinda Bencic, with the Swiss sixth seed having played in plenty of tournaments this year but falling at the quarter finals hurdle three times against players far lower in rankings. Her two 2019 titles came on hard court in Dubai and Moscow as well as a semi-finals appearance at the US Open, meaning this could be her chance to prove she is more than just a competitor at a premier event.