The Women’s Singles draw at Wimbledon has been full of surprises in 2014. None of the top stars made the quarterfinal, leaving the championship wide open for the taking. Of the four women in the semi-final, only Petra Kvitova owns a Grand Slam title, the 2011 Wimbledon Championship. Kvitova will be hungrier than ever knowing that a second Wimbledon title is within reach. However, standing in Kvitova’s way is 23rd-ranked Lucie Safarova, who is making her first Grand Slam semi-final.
If you just love sports played on grass, check out our World Cup quarterfinals previews, including Brazil vs. Colombia. In the meantime, read on for everything you need to know about this prestigious event.
[sc:MultiSportArticles ]Petra Kvitova vs. Lucie Safarova, 2014 Wimbledon Women’s Singles Semi-final Match Preview
Where: All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, England
When: Thursday, July 3, 2014, 8:05AM ET
Line: Petra Kvitova (-280) vs. Lucie Safarova (+210) – view all Women’s Singles lines
Betting on Petra Kvitova
The 2011 Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova has mostly cruised past her competition, only struggling in her upset victory against five-time champion Venus Williams winning 5-7, 7-6(2), 7-5 in the third round. With all of the favorites in the competition having been knocked out of contention already, a second Wimbledon title seems to be for Kvitova’s taking, but that’s if she can get past fellow Czech and friend Lucie Safarova.
[sc:Other240banner ]Although dominating most of her competition, Kvitova has shown momentary lapses of concentration. The sudden lulls in performance are most evident in her quarterfinal match against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova when she handily won the first set 6-1, but found herself down 4-5 in the second. Still, she snapped back to her championship form to win three-straight games to win the set 7-5.
In five rounds of play, Kvitova has won 218 service points, but has made a staggering 94 unforced errors along the way. In this match, Kvitova will need her serve to lead the attack, and hope she can keep Safarova out of the action by controlling her errors. Kvitova plays her best on the grass court, with her only Grand Slam title coming from Wimbledon.
Kvitova is 5-0 in head-to-head matches against Safarova.
Betting on Lucie Safarova
In her 37th Grand Slam appearance, Lucia Safarova will finally be playing her first major semifinal match. Safarova has been serving well and playing aggressively to capitalize on what has become a very open field at Wimbledon.
Safarova started the tournament struggling against Julia Georges in the first round, winning both sets with tiebreakers 7-6(3), 7-6(3). She continued to have a difficult time in the second round, winning against Polona Hercog 7-6(7), 7-5. Safarova found her groove after that, upsetting number No. 10-ranked Dominika Cibulkova in the third round 6-4, 6-2.
Safarova is an agile player, capable of excelling at long rallies. She plays with considerable top spin and if she hits freely, she can hit return winners. However, she’s still better on serve having 82.6% first serve points won in the competition. Safarova has also improved over the course of five rounds of the tournament, significantly reducing her unforced errors to just 17 in her past two matches after committing 26 in her second round match alone.
Although having gone 0-5 against Kvitova, Safarova showed in the past that she can challenge tennis’ biggest stars. She almost won a match point against Li Na at the Australian Open in the second set, but an unforced error which saw her shot land five centimeters beyond the line lost her the point, the set, and ultimately the match.
Safarova also incredibly fought off eight match points in a three-set loss to Maria Sharapova at the Sony Open, before ultimately losing. These experiences can help Safarova contain her nerves for the biggest match of her career.
Writer’s Prediction.
Safarova will beat Kvitova. Create a betting account now to join in on this dramatic Wimbledon Semi-final match.
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