Top seeds have been falling like flies in this year’s Australian Open women’s draw, but World No. 1 Serena Williams is still very much alive. The defending Aussie Open champ is coming off a typically dominant win in the second round. Can she book her spot in the Round of 16 with a win over high-flying teenager Daria Kasatkina?
Read on below for this third-round matchup. Meanwhile, check out what the top men’s seeds will be up against with our previews of Djokovic vs. Seppi and Federer vs. Dimitrov.
[sc:TennisArticles ]Serena Williams vs. Daria Kasatkina Betting Preview
Where: Melbourne Park, Melbourne
When: Thursday, January 21
Line: Serena Williams (-2,000) vs. Daria Kasatkina (+1,000) – view all Australian Open Women’s Singles lines
Betting on Serena Williams
After a relatively labored opening round performance against Camila Giorgi, Serena Williams was back to her devastating best, as she steamrolled past her unfortunate second-round opponent, Su-Wei Hsieh. The World No. 1 needed just 60 minutes flat to dispose of the World No. 90 in straight-sets, 6-1, 6-2.
[sc:AUS15-250 ]Serena was simply too much for her overmatched opponent. She fired home seven aces, had 26 winners, converted 85 percent of her first serve points, and won 51 percent of receiving points. Serena’s put just over half of her first serves in play through her first two matches, but on both occasions, she converted 85 percent or more of those first serve points. She’s also averaging eight aces per match.
The 34-year-old Williams has the overwhelming experience advantage over the 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina, and will be the massive -2,000 favorite to go through. Williams’ power – both in her service game and return game – is just a handful to deal with, and should be enough to see her past Kasatkina, whose serve has been broken five times in two matches.
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Betting on Daria Kasatkina
Daria Kasatkina is slowly getting the hang of the Grand Slam stage. The 18-year-old has now reached the third-round in back-to-back Slams after also making it to the Round of 32 in last year’s US Open.
Kasatkina’s road to that stage in Australia has been much more impressive, though. She has yet to drop a set in her first two matches after convincing straight-sets victories over Anna Schmeidlova and Ana Konjuh.
Kasatkina’s service game has been a little shaky, but her return game has been spot on. She’s won over half of receiving points in her first two matches, and has gone 11-of-21 in her break point opportunities.
The Russian teen is a massive +1,000 underdog for a couple of reasons, the biggest of which is because she’s facing the best women’s tennis player on the planet. But with her young legs and ability to get her opponent moving with a variety of shots, she has a good chance of making things a little tougher for the defending champ.
Kasatkina has already recorded one win against a Williams this year. She took down Serena’s older sister Venus in three sets in Auckland. She broke the elder Williams sister’s serve six times in 11 attempts.
Writer’s Prediction
Williams (-2,000) advances with another straight-sets win.
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