Many who are inside the top 10 will not be present, which means that the middle-ranked ladies will be having a good opportunity to steal the spotlight in the event.
Let’s name three that could be worthy dark horse picks. Read on!
2017 WTA Mallorca Open Sleeper Picks and Predictions
Anett Kontaveit
Though only 49th in the world rankings, Anett Kontaveit has a strong case to be right up there with the elites, especially with the way she has been raising her stocks this season.
The Estonian will be entering the tourney with an 18-9 card on the main tournaments and 17-1 in the other events, which includes seven instances where she advanced through at least the fourth round, two of which had her winning the title (Ricoh Open and 60k Andrezieux-Boutheon).
Ana Konjuh
World no. 33 Ana Konjuh’s game isn’t as steady as the other higher-seeded women, but she is, for the most part, able to do what she’s supposed to do when facing an inferior opponent.
She advanced in the fourth round of the grass-held Ricoh Open, where she had a trio of good performances – a straight set domination against Tamara Korpatsch, a come-from-behind win over Richel Hogenkamp , and an entertaining back-and-forth with Evgeniya Rodina.
Konjuh is only 15-11 this year, but has always shown tendency to come out of nowhere and reach deep rounds, which occurred in the Dubai Open and Auckland Open.
Catherine Bellis
Catherine “CiCi” Bellis rounds out our list. Like Kontaveit and Konjuh, this lady can be considered as a silent assassin, and could definitely be in the running for a great, deep run at the title.
CiCi will be coming off a good stretch playing on clay court events, where she won eight of her 12 matches, four of which were via straight sets.
It’s an unnoticeable W-L card now, but may be a prequel to another resurgence. Bellis, as you may remember, closed out her 2016 capturing three straight titles – 50k Saguenay, 50k Toronto, and Honolulu Open. In that span, she piled 15 straight victories and showcased commendable close-out abilities, as she held opponents to winning two games or less in the final set eight times.
