Serena Williams vs. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni Betting Preview
Where: Melbourne Park — Melbourne, Australia
When: Tuesday, January 25, 2017
Line: Serena Williams (-900) vs. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (+550) – view all 2017 Australian Open Women’s Singles lines
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Betting on Serena Williams (-900)
Serena had a typical road to the semifinals, which meant that the first couple of rounds were a cake walk. She just went by the first three opponents – Belinda Bencic, Lucie Safarova, and Nicole Gibbs – with ease, as she never lost a set.
Though things were a little different against Barbora Strycova in the fourth round (7-5, 6-4), she redeemed herself by by making quick work of the ninth-ranked Johanna Konta in the quarter finals (6-2, 6-3).
Serena reaching the Australian Open semis usually means “championship.” In all of her five previous appearances in the said round had her advancing and finishing with the title in her hands. She last won in 2015, when she edged out a who’s who in women’s tennis – Maria Sharapova, Madison Keys, and Dominika Cibulkova, to name a few. Williams’s career record at the AO is 74-10 (88 percent)
As she moves forward in gunning for her 23rd career Grand Slam win, there’s a bit of mystery for the tennis legend, which is a rarity. Her last battle with Lucic-Baroni way back in 1998, when both were relatively unknown up-an-comers. Though she came out victorious in their pair of meetings on the year, we’re still talking about an 18-year gap, and a lot could have changed.
Betting on Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (+550)
The 79th-seeded Lucic-Baroni is bound to have a significant rise in the rankings, thanks to having a fantastic run to the tournament semis. Among the women she knocked out were number three Agnieszka Radwanska and number five Karolina Pliskova.
This will be Lucic-Baroni’s first semis appearance in the tourney, and she’s only 6-8 overall at the Australian Open. However, her hot streak, which is probably the hottest in her career, could still make her a good sleeper pick. She’s also 6-1 in her last seven matches on a hard surface.
The past couple of years also have the Croatian reaching respectable stages in the Grand Slam tournaments, as she advanced through the fourth round of the 2014 US Open and the third round of the 2015 French Open, where she earned victories with the likes of current fourth-seed Simona Halep (twice) and ninth-seed Johanna Konta.
Lucic-Baroni currently has more double faults (25) than aces (19), but he’ll parade one of the highest best break points in the tournament, which is second only to Karolina Pliskova.
Writer’s Prediction
Serena wins in four sets.
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