Despite never having reached a Grand Slam final before, the number three seed, Victoria Azarenka from Belarus has been made the 4/6 odds on favourite to claim her first when she meets fourth seed, Maria Sharapova in Saturdays final of the Ladies Australian Open Tennis Championship in Melbourne. Whoever wins will go straight to the top of the world rankings.
World number three, Azarenka has played sublimely throughout this tournament reaching the final with an excellent three set victory over defending champion, Kim Clijsters. It was that performance above all others that have prompted the Bookmakers to make her the favourite although she has beaten Sharapova on the last two occasions the two have met on a hard court.
Azarenka has other advantages too, she is a great server and returner and is backed up by one of the most consistent groundstrokes in the game. She also moves better on court than her taller opponent proving that the work she has put in on the physical aspects of her game is now paying big dividends.
Sharapova of course is making her third appearance in the Australian Open Final, having won here in 2008 with victory over Ana Ivanovic but was beaten in the 2007 final in straight sets by Serena Williams. She has won a total of three Grand Slam finals in the past, the first of which came back in 2004 when she took the Wimbledon crown when just 17 years old. With so much big game experience the 6/5 odds on offer by Ladbrokes about her winning the final would appear to represent decent enough value, but she will need to bring her A game on to court.
Sadly much of the pre-final discussions will focus on the equally awful grunts both players are renowned for. Sharapova having what amounts to a high pitched scream while Azarenka’s grunt has been likened to that of air being released from a balloon. Both grunts have been measured on the ‘gruntometer’ at over 100 decibels and they will at some point annoy the Aussie crowd.
Apart from her battle with Clijsters in the semi final, Azarenka had a relatively easy passage through to the final. She lost just two games in her opening two matches and did not drop a set until the Quarter Finals, when Agnieszka Radwanska took the opening set on a tie break. Sharapova was equally as impressive in the opening two rounds where she, like Azarenka, also only dropped two games. She also had a straight sets victory in the third round but was severely tested in the fourth round by Sabine Lisicki who took the second set from her. She comfortably came through her Quarter Final against Ekaterina Makarova and then had her hardest match in the Semi Final where she defeated her 2011 Wimbledon Final conqueror, Petra Kvitova in three tough sets.ladbrokes have created four set betting markets to cover every possible set winning margin; they go:
2-0 Azarenka @ 7/4
2-0 Sharapova @ 13/5
2-1 Azarenka @ 11/4
2-1 Sharapova @ 10/3.
This is a match which could clearly go either way but it is also one where the less experienced Azarenka has potentially more in her armoury than her opponent. It is hard to imagine that it will be decided in straight sets, which is why we would suggest an Azarenka victory in three close sets with carries odds of 11/4.
4/6 Azarenka
6/5 Sharapova.
The odds for Ladies Singles Final at the Australian Open Tennis Championship has been provided by Ladbrokes.com who will also feature a betting in-running facility throughout the final.
Posted: Friday, 27th January 2012
Author: Rodney Wise
Tags: australian open, ladies singles final, maria sharapova, victoria azarenka, bet365,
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