Section 1
Halep probably should come through but a lot of potentially dangerous contenders in there. Barty vs Sabalenka is one of the ties of the round IMO and Giorgi while often reckless has the power to trouble anyone and has been in very good form this week. Can't really write off Kvitova either as we saw at the US Open with good wins over Garcia and Mugu.
Section 2
We said the same at the US Open and it backfired, but the first 2 rounds look OK for Konta (obviously we don't know a potential qualifier in round 2), but she might come unstuck in the 3rd round vs Strycova. I'd probably expect Ka Pliskova to win this section, beating Strycova in the L16.
Section 3
Loaded with big names and GS winners / runners up - Mugu, Kerber, Radwanska, Sharapova. A couple of prospects as well in Vekic and Vikhylantsova (although I'm currently watching Vekic 0-6 1-5 down to Watson in Hobart). Hard to call how Mugu will be after pulling out of Brisbane and Sydney through injury, so poor preparation. I can see Kerber coming through this.
Section 4
Wide open. Mladenovic is in shocking form, so despite being 11th seed, we can probably rule her out of being a legit threat. Can see a Keys vs Garcia L16 clash with Garcia coming through. Watson has a decent chance of making R3.
Section 5
Really hard opening draw for Venus, one of the match ups she wouldn't have wanted (Bencic). Goerges is in top form and on something like a 15 match winning run including 3 titles so she will have to be favourite to come through, but Makarova and Mertens will be within a shout.
Section 6
Good draw for Svitolina. A US Open repeat vs in form Siniakova in round 2 looks her biggest threat but after that I don't see much competition with next highest seed Stephens in shocking form, 7 defeats on the spin since US Open triumph. Kasatkina is too inconsistent to be a legit threat and don't really see anyone else troubling her.
Section 7
Not too bad for Ostapenko. She isn't in great form, but should be able to make the L16 I reckon. I can see the winner of Kanepi vs Coco taking this section though, hopefully not the former.
Section 8
Ideal for Wozniacki (
@alexander), couldn't have asked for a kinder draw really. Bertens is poor anywhere apart from clay and it's just really Pavlyuchenkova who might be a threat. The surface here is a lot faster than she likes, but despite that, I would be very surprised if she didn't win this section.
Halep vs Barty
Strycova vs
Ka Pliskova
Muguruza (just about) vs
Kerber
Keys vs
Garcia
Makarova vs
Goerges
Zhang vs
Svitolina
Ostapenko vs
Kanepi
Pavlyuchenkova vs
Wozniacki
Venus vs Bencic. Barty vs Sabalenka. Kanepi vs Cibulkova and Sinakova vs Sakkari look the pick of the first round matches IMO. Maybe Kumkhum and Lapko but other than that, I don;t see many qualifiers coming through and shaking up the draw, although one or two randomers will inevitably have a run e.g. Martic at Wimbledon depending on where they end up being placed in the draw.