Our tennis writer looks at two selected French Open quarter-finals from the women's draw of the event.
Simona Halep 4/10 | Angelique Kerber 7/4
One of two blockbuster quarterfinals lined up for Wednesday, World Number One Simona Halep is aiming to lose the tag of the greatest ever player never to taste Grand Slam success when she takes on two-time Grand Slam Champion Angelique Kerber. Halep has moved with typical serenity through the early part of the draw, dropping just one set against Riske. A thrashing of Elise Mertens seems to indicate that she may be ready to exorcise the demons of last year’s French Open. After winning in Shenzhen at the beginning of the year Halep has yet to taste victory this season. That included that heart-breaking final loss to Wozniacki in Melbourne. But a run to the finals in Rome prior to this event indicate that Halep may be on the right path to claim that maiden Grand Slam title.
Kerber has actually experienced a remarkably similar year to Halep. After winning her opening title in Sydney, Kerber has yet to taste success again this season. She too experienced heartbreak in Melbourne, at the hands of Halep in a devastating three-set loss in the semi-final. Since then she has routinely reached the quarterfinal stages of events without really threatening for titles. She managed to reach the quarterfinals in Rome during that sequence. This is only the second time that Kerber has reached the quarterfinals stage here, though her form has been impressive. She has yet to drop a set, which included victories over Garcia and a bang-in-form Kiki Bertens.
Amazingly, this will be the 11th time that these two have met. Strangely enough, it is Kerber who actually leads 2-0 on clay. In actual fact Kerber has won five of their last seven encounters. So though Halep is the clear favourite here, the stats seem to reveal that this will not be a straightforward affair for the Romanian.
Perhaps a prudent- and potentially profitable- option will be backing Halep to win in three sets at 28/10.
Garbine Muguruza 15/20 | Maria Sharapova 19/20
The other huge quarterfinal sees career Grand Slam Champion Maria Sharapova taking on yet another two-time Grand Slam winner in Garbine Muguruza. Sharapova will never admit it, but she would have been overjoyed by the retirement of prospective fourth Round opponent Serena Williams. Sharapova’s latest quest to rehabilitate her image has gone swimmingly thus far, with that third round victory over Karolina Pliskova surprising me in its efficacy. Sharapova has won twice here in Paris and has finally burst into life after a dismal start to her comeback. After the Aussie Open she suffered four consecutive losses and it almost looked as if we may be witnessing the demise of Sharapova. But a run to the semi-final in Rome, where she pushed Halep to three sets, seemed to suggest a turn in fortunes for the statuesque Russian.
2016 French Open Champion Garbine Muguruza had a fairly innocuous build-up to this year’s event. She suffered an opening round loss to Gavrilova in Rome and was beaten by Kasatkina in the early stages of Madrid. But that is really typical of a player who seems to drift in and out of form at a whim. She won in Monterrey as the top seed after a surprisingly strong showing in the desert series. Her choice to reunite with Conchita Martinez will no doubt come in handy heading to the business end of a Grand Slam. She, like Sharapova, has benefitted from a fourth round walkover, with Lesia Tsurenko withdrawing early in their match. Muguruza has had a favourable draw, taking down Stosur, Ferro and Kuznetsova with a degree of aplomb.
Maria Sharapova leads the head-to-head between the two 3-0. That has to be taken with a fair degree of perspective, as the two last met way back in 2014. Sharapova will clearly be buoyed by this run but will no doubt be feeling the pinch of her first quarterfinal Grand Slam run in some time. Muguruza is the younger, fresher athlete and I believe she will have it in her to take this encounter. Perhaps 32/10 on Muguruza to win in three is sensible, giving Sharapova’s undoubted pedigree.
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