Top seed Kerber lands in stacked quarter

Kirsten Flipkens. Lucie Safarova. Garbine Muguruza. Agnieszka Radwanska. Karolina Pliskova.

Should the seedings hold, those are the players No.1 seed Angelique Kerber will have to go through in order to replicate her run to the final 12 months ago at the All England Club.

The top-ranked German heads a stacked section of the draw loaded with grasscourt talents who have prior Wimbledon form.

If she was hoping to ease her way into her 2017 campaign at SW19 after a lukewarm season, she didn’t get her wish.

Seeded No.2, Simona Halep rounds out the bottom of the draw and is slated to meet No.4 seed Elina Svitolina in the semis; Kerber is projected to meet No.3 seed Pliskova at the same stage.

But in what is a wide-open women’s field, there is certainly no guarantee those seedings will hold.

Kerber kicks off on Tuesday

In the absence of defending champion Serena Williams, Kerber will open Centre Court’s schedule on Tuesday against a qualifier before potentially taking on Flipkens, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2013.

Lurking in the third round could be 32nd seed Safarova, a semifinalist here 12 months after Flipkens and who recently reached the Birmingham semifinals.

RELATED: Kerber claims much-needed win in Eastbourne

No.14 seed Muguruza – a Wimbledon finalist in 2015 – is Kerber’s projected fourth-round opponent in what would be a blockbuster showdown in the last 16. Muguruza, like Safarova, reached last week’s Birmingham semifinals.

Another former Wimbledon finalist, Radwanska (2012), could be Kerber’s quarterfinal opponent.

But the Pole, enduring a lean season, may not make it that far – she opens her campaign against former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic and could come up against No.7 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in round four.

Pliskova the favourite

Pliskova is emerging as the most dangerous player in the top half.

The third seed, who on Friday advanced to the Eastbourne final, is the bookies’ favourite and possesses all the weapons to make a run for Venus Rosewater Dish.

RELATED: Pliskova v Wozniacki set for Eastbourne final

The Czech – who recently reached the Roland Garros semifinals on her weakest surface – has landed in a relatively unforgiving wedge of the draw, but could run into problems in the quarterfinals against fifth seed Wozniacki – her opponent in the Eastbourne final.

Yet Wozniacki must contend with a horror draw that includes, potentially, Tsvetana Pironkova in the second round and either Kristina Mladenovic or CoCo Vandeweghe – seeded 12th and 24th respectively – in the last 16.

Svitolina in trouble

The quarter headed by Svitolina could well be blown wide open.

The Ukrainian, second in the WTA Race to Singapore after a stellar 2017 season, has drawn Ash Barty, the Aussie grasscourt whiz who arrives with a Birmingham final and Nottingham quarterfinal under her belt.

Adding to Svitolina’s woes is a foot injury that contributed to her second-round loss to Camila Giorgi at the same tournament at which Barty advanced to the final.

RELATED: Svitolina latest under a cloud

Peppered throughout the same quarter are a host of seeded names who could do damage on the lawns of the All England Club.

Dominika Cibulkova (No.8), Venus Williams (No.10), Jelena Ostapenko (No.13), Madison Keys (No.17), Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (No.26) and Ana Konjuh (No.27) could all go deep.

Rolana Garros champ Ostapenko and Keys, two of the game’s best young talents, are on course for a big-hitting third-round clash.

Halep looking to rebound

Halep, who lost to Ostapenko in the final in Paris, has a relatively clear path to the second week, opening against qualifier Marina Erakovic and facing a projected third-round match with 25th seed Carla Suarez Navarro.

In the fourth round, she could take on the returning Victoria Azarenka; unseeded, Azarenka begins against CiCi Bellis in one of the picks of the round and could next take on 15th seed Elena Vesnina, a semifinalist last year.

RELATED: Kvitova, missing Eastbourne, says she’s not a Wimbledon favourite

Should she progress, Halep’s path is could be complicated in the quarters by in-form sixth seed Jo Konta – who is waiting to see if she’s recovered from a nasty fall in Eastbourne that prompted her to withdraw from that event – and Petra Kvitova, the 11th seed who completed a stunning comeback to tennis with the Birmingham title.

Kvitova, a two-time champion at Wimbledon, and Konta, the top-ranked Brit, are on course for a fourth-round clash.