[5]Cirstea v Morita
Q/LL v Niculescu
Goerges v Govortsova
[2]Stosur v BYE
Sorana has a bit of a tricky draw. She's not going to be happy facing Ayumi first round-- she's 2:3 against her, and 1-all on hardcourt. If she gets past Ayumi, she has to face Monica, who she has a losing h2h against.
Still, good luck to her! She has nothing to defend until Cincinnati, but it would be nice to pick up points going into the USO!
I know Stanford was last year immediately after Wimbledon but Sorana made the Semifinals there and it would be nice if she could get as many points back as possible. I expect her to do well as she is coming after 10 days of good training on hard courts in Vegas. She should make at least the 3rd round of not more.
Stanford courts suit Sorana's game perfectly, but that's also the case with Morita.
They know each other very well, not only from their previous encounters, but also from numerous doubles matches they played together. Ayumi is slumping a lot lately, so I would give the edge to Sorana, but you never know with her...
All in all, this is a very good section for her to get some points.
I watched Morita's serving motion and noticed she throws the ball slightly back. I think she needs to adjust as she can't manage to put enough power in the serve. Sorana's technique is much better.