The WTA Australian Open Semi-Finals take place this Thursday in Melbourne with three American players in action. Bookmakers Review breaks down the fixtures below and lists the best available odds from green listed bookmakers.
Vandeweghe vs. Venus
It has been a brilliant run for Coco Vandeweghe with the American defeating two top 10 players to reach this semi-finals – Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza. Even though Kerber and Muguruza were far from their best, Vandeweghe performed at an outstanding level. Taking a look now at Coco’s numbers on those two encounters, the American won 94.12% of her service games with an impressive winners / unforced errors ratio of 1.53.
Despite her age and health problems, Venus Williams continues to be one of the greatest competitors on the WTA Tour. Venus’ experience and motivation allows her to play her best – especially on the big stages – with the 2003 Australian Open runner-up still looking for her first title in Melbourne. Even though she faced a very powerful player in the previous round – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Venus outplayed her opponent with 35 winners against 17 from Pavlyuchenkova.
This should be a very interesting contest between two players famous for their firepower. Despite Vandeweghe’s recent performances, it’s impossible to find any value on her current price at 31/50 at Ladbrokes. On the other hand, Venus presents a tremendous value for this match 3/2 at BetVictor. For those who want to approach this game with more cautious, we suggest to take Williams’ +1.5 Set Handicap at 61/100 at Pinnacle.
Lucic-Baroni vs. Serena
Against all expectations, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni returns to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam after one previous appearance at this stage in Wimbledon 18 years ago. Things haven’t been easy for Mirjana since she became a professional tennis player with several physical problems, which is one of the main reasons for her lack of success. However, Lucic-Baroni is the perfect example of determination and self-belief with an extraordinary performance in the previous round against Karolina Pliskova.
Serena Williams is for the third consecutive year in the Australian Open semi-finals with the six-time champion never losing at this stage in Melbourne. Looking now to Serena’s campaign on this event, the American reaches this stage of the competition without dropping a single set after an inspired performance against Johanna Konta in the quarter-finals.
Even though Lucic-Baroni has nothing to lose on this match, it won’t be easy for the Croatian to perform at her best due to her physical problems. Mirjana has struggled with a leg injury throughout this event and Serena should take advantage of that. Therefore, Williams’ -6 game handicap is the best approach for this match at 93/100 at Pinnacle since her moneyline is too short at 3/25 at 5Dimes while BetVictor offers 13/2 for Lucic-Baroni’s victory.
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