One of the interesting aspects of the contest is seeing how our gaggle of experts handicap the field. So here are some observations about our women's picks. Some of the numbers might not add up, but you get the general idea. (Click here to see the analysis of the men's picks).

There are 89 contestants in this contest.

Fancied to win the championship (number of championship picks in parentheses):

• Henin-Hardenne (29)
• Clijsters (24)
• Davenport (14)
• Mauresmo (5)
• Sharapova (5)
• Williams, Venus (3)
• Dementieva (2)
• Pierce (2)
• Petrova (1)
• Williams, Serena (1)

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Our analysis of the chances of the top seeds
 

(1) Lindsay Davenport

Lindsay is always a handful on hard, and was a finalist last year. She is #1 in the world, at least for the moment. Can she recover the strong nerves needed to win a major? We doubt it, primarily because of the presence of Henin-Hardenne in Lindsay's quarter. The Belgian won Sydney and appears healthy again, and our view is that she is more likely than Davenport to make the final four.

- Lindsay will lose in the final:
   9 (to Clijsters)
   1 (to Pierce)
- Lindsay will lose in the semifinal:
   3 (to Sharapova)
   1 (to Dementieva)
   1 (to Petrova)
   1 (to Serena Williams)
- Lindsay will lose in the quarterfinal:
   50 (to Henin-Hardenne)
   4 (to Venus Williams)
- Lindsay will lose in the fourth round:
   3 (to Kuznetsova)

(2) Kim Clijsters

Kim was widely regarded as the pre-tournament favourite until suffering a hip injury in Sydney, but the combination of Kim's injury worries and Henin-Hardenne's strong play in Sydney give us reason to make Clijsters our second choice to win the title. If she is able to recover in time, Clijsters could back up her strong credentials. She was far and away the most convincing outdoor hard court player last year and has shown well at the AO in the past (two semis and a final from 2002 to 2004). Speculating on injuries is tough, but we had to do it! Former AO champion and 2005 comeback story Pierce is in this quarter, as is Sydney runner-up Schiavone.

- Kim will lose in the final:
   15 (to Henin-Hardenne)
   9 (to Davenport)
   2 (to Sharapova)
- Kim will lose in the semifinal:
   10 (to Mauresmo)
   1 (to Myskina)
- Kim will lose in the quarterfinal:
   9 (to Pierce)
   3 (to Ivanovic)
   2 (to Hingis)
- Kim will lose in the fourth round:
   6 (to Schiavone)
   1 (to Groenefeld)
   1 (to Safarova)
- Kim will lose before the fourth round:
   2 (prefer Bartoli)

(3) Amelie Mauresmo

Mauresmo hasn't reached a major final since this tournament eight years ago (already...). Has her big title at the Tour Championships given her the self-belief that she has so cruelly lacked in the past? We don't think so. But we do think she should reach the semis, where her fate would be to lose to Clijsters (or perhaps Pierce). The super teen Vaidisova is in Amelie's quarter and could pose a major problem in the fourth round, as could former AO semifinalist Schnyder in the quarterfinals.

- Amelie will lose in the final:
   5 (to Henin-Hardenne)
   3 (to Davenport)
   2 (to Sharapova)
   1 (to Dementieva)
   1 (to Venus Williams)
- Amelie will lose in the semifinal:
   34 (to Clijsters)
   6 (to Pierce)
   1 (to Hingis)
- Amelie will lose in the quarterfinal:
   8 (to Schnyder)
   3 (to Myskina)
   1 (to Safina)
- Amelie will lose in the fourth round:
   12 (to Vaidisova)
   2 (to Zheng)
- Amelie will lose before the fourth round:
   3 (prefer Krajicek)
   1 (prefer Mirza)

(4) Maria Sharapova

Far from revolutionizing tennis since her 2004 Wimbledon title, Sharapova went without a major title last year and is struggling with shoulder problems. Not many of us see Maria in the final here. A difficult draw compounds the Russian's problems. She looks vulnerable, but at whose hands? Defending champion S. Williams in the fourth round? Fed Cup heroine Dementieva in the quarters? Henin-Hardenne or Davenport in the semis?

- Maria will lose in the final:
   3 (to Clijsters)
- Maria will lose in the semifinal:
   20 (to Henin-Hardenne)
   10 (to Davenport)
   2 (to Venus Williams)
- Maria will lose in the quarterfinal:
   22 (to Dementieva)
   3 (to Petrova)
- Maria will lose in the fourth round:
   11 (to Serena Williams)
   3 (to Hantuchova)
- Maria will lose before the fourth round:
   5 (prefer Medina Garrigues)
   2 (prefer Peng)

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The LOW SEEDS WE LOVE!

Some of the lower seeds will be dangerous. We like the fourth round chances of:

• Ana Ivanovic (21st seed, 58 votes)
• Dinara Safia (20th seed, 42 votes)

Here are the lower-seeded players selected, in alphabetical order. The seed is given, with the number of fourth-round votes in parentheses:

• Bartoli-27 (2)
• Dulko-31 (5)
• Golovin-24 (12)
• Groenefeld-22 (15)
• Hantuchova-17 (32)
• Ivanovic-21 (58)
• Jankovic-23 (5)
• Koukalova-29 (7)
• Likhovtseva-18 (8)
• Medina Garrigues-28 (5)
• Mirza-32 (1)
• Pennetta-20 (14)
• Safina-20 (42)
• Zvonareva-30 (4)

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The FABULOUS FLOATERS!

Even with 32 seeds, we always have our eye on unseeded players coming out of the pack. Our most often-picked floater is:

• Martina Hingis (19 votes)

Here are the unseeded players selected, in alphabetical order, with number of fourth-round votes in parentheses:

• Asagoe (2)
• Arvidsson (2)
• Bammer (1)
• Bychkova (1)
• Chakvetadze (1)
• Daniilidou (3)
• Dushevina (2)
• Hingis (19)
• Jackson (1)
• Krajicek (3)
• Peer (5)
• Peng (2)
• Qualifier in Dementieva's bracket (1) - this would be Ting Li, Tzipora Obziler or Olga Savchuk
• Qualifier in Myskina's bracket (1) - this would be Tamarine Tanasugarn
• Qualifier in Petrova's bracket (1) - this would be Yvonne Meusburger or Jarmila Gajdosova
• Qualifier in Vaidisova's bracket (1) - this would be Anastasiya Yakimova or Cara Black
• Ruano Pascual (1)
• Safarova (8)
• Serra-Zanetti (1)
• Smashnova (1)
• Srebotnik (1)
• Stosur (2)
• Zheng (4)

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E-mail Ed Toombs

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