{"id":92295,"date":"2016-01-25T00:49:23","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T05:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/?p=92295"},"modified":"2016-01-25T08:19:13","modified_gmt":"2016-01-25T13:19:13","slug":"serena-williams-vs-maria-sharapova-predictions-odds-picks-and-tennis-betting-preview-2016-australian-open-quarterfinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/serena-williams-vs-maria-sharapova-predictions-odds-picks-and-tennis-betting-preview-2016-australian-open-quarterfinals.html","title":{"rendered":"Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova Predictions, Odds, Picks, and Tennis Betting Preview \u2013 2016 Australian Open Quarterfinals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For the fourth time in their illustrious careers, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will meet in the Australian Open. However, much like how almost all battles between the two megastars have gone throughout their rivalry, the first three matchups have all been in Williams\u2019 favor. Can Sharapova finally end her nearly 12-year drought against the American Down Under?<\/p>\n<p>Read on below for our preview of this star-studded quarterfinal matchup. And for more top quarterfinal showdowns, check out our previews of <a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/novak-djokovic-vs-kei-nishikori-predictions-odds-picks-and-tennis-betting-preview-2016-australian-open-quarterfinal.html\" target=\"_blank\">Djokovic vs. Nishikori<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/roger-federer-vs-tomas-berdych-predictions-odds-picks-and-tennis-betting-preview-2016-australian-open-quarterfinals.html\" target=\"_blank\">Federer vs. Berdych<\/a>.<\/p>\n[sc:TennisArticles ]\n<h2>Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova\u00a0Betting Preview<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where:\u00a0<\/strong>Melbourne Park, Melbourne<\/p>\n<p><strong>When: <\/strong>Monday, January 25<\/p>\n<p><strong>Line:\u00a0<\/strong>Serena Williams (<strong>-450<\/strong>) vs. Maria Sharapova (<strong>+325<\/strong>) \u2013\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/sportsbook\/tennis\/womens-australian-open-quarters\" target=\"_blank\">view all Australian Open Women\u2019s Singles lines<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Betting on Serena Williams<\/h3>\n<p>Serena Williams is showing no signs of slowing down Down Under. The defending champion and World No. 1 was given a pretty stern test by Camila Giorgi in Round 1, but has subsequently steamrolled past her next three opponents.\u00a0Serena dropped a grand total of eight points en route to her straight-sets wins over Daria Kasatkina, Su-Wei Hsieh, and Margarita Gasparyan.<\/p>\n<p>[sc:AUS15-250 ]Serena\u2019s service game hasn\u2019t been particularly overwhelming \u2013 she has a modest 25 aces through four matches \u2013 but her return game has been remarkably good. She\u2019s won a whopping 52 percent of return points thus far in the tournament, and has gone an equally impressive 17-of-37 (46 percent) on her break point opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Serena\u2019s overpowering return game has been one of the big reasons why she has simply owned Maria Sharapova in their career head-to-heads. The American is 18-2 and has a current 17-match win streak over her Russian rival. 10 of those 17 wins have come on hard court, including last year\u2019s Aussie Open final, where Williams broke Sharapova three times and won 42 percent of return points.<\/p>\n<p>If that wasn\u2019t enough to illustrate Williams\u2019 dominance, then consider that she has dropped a grand total of one set in her last 12 matches against Sharapova.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Join TopBet Sportsbook\" href=\"http:\/\/record.tbaffiliate.com\/_y8k7RB3Ll4xutv7iXV6HvmNd7ZgqdRLk\/9\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Create a betting account now<\/a>\u00a0and cash in on the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year.<\/p>\n<h3>Betting on Maria Sharapova<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Maria+Sharapova+2016+Australian+Open.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-92314\" alt=\"Maria+Sharapova+2016+Australian+Open\" src=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Maria+Sharapova+2016+Australian+Open.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"340\" srcset=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Maria+Sharapova+2016+Australian+Open.jpg 600w, http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Maria+Sharapova+2016+Australian+Open-250x141.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After easing through the first two rounds, Maria Sharapova hasn&#8217;t looked quite as impressive against her last two opponents, Lauren Davis and Belinda Bencic. Davis even took a set from Sharapova in a tie-break, the first one the World No. 5 has lost in the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The Russian was able to respond to the challenge on both occasions, though, to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years.<\/p>\n<p>But for one reason or another \u2013 whether it\u2019s because of a physical, technical or mental issue, or maybe some combination of the three \u2013 Sharapova just hasn\u2019t been able to solve the puzzle of Williams. In fairness to her, she&#8217;s very much not alone in that regard. Yet for a player that aspires to be in Williams&#8217; level, she&#8217;s been far from it.<\/p>\n<p>In any normal circumstance, Sharapova would be very much up against it. She&#8217;s a <a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/sportsbook\/tennis\/womens-australian-open-quarters\" target=\"_blank\">+325<\/a>\u00a0underdog against Williams. But with her recent struggles against inferior opponents and Williams&#8217; continued dominance in this tournament, the signs don&#8217;t look too promising for Shara in her quest to finally snap her dreaded losing skid against the American.<\/p>\n<h3>Writer\u2019s Prediction<\/h3>\n<p>Serena (<a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/sportsbook\/tennis\/womens-australian-open-quarters\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>-450<\/strong><\/a>) strolls to another straight-sets win over Sharapova.<\/p>\n[sc:AUS15-620 ]\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"pvc_stats all \" data-element-id=\"92295\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> &nbsp;3,085&nbsp;total views, &nbsp;2&nbsp;views today<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the fourth time in their illustrious careers, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will meet in the Australian Open. However, much like how almost all battles between the two megastars<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"pvc_stats all \" data-element-id=\"92295\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> &nbsp;3,085&nbsp;total views, &nbsp;2&nbsp;views today<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":92313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[393,69],"tags":[8286,8507,8508,8509,2616,8287,1748,1747,8682,4517,1500,2955,2293,8289,8626,8627],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Serena Williams vs Maria Sharapova Preview \u2013 2016 Australian Open<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Predictions, picks and preview for the Serena Williams vs Maria Sharapova 2016 Australian Open quarterfinal match, courtesy of TopBet online sportsbook.\" \/>\n<meta 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