It is women’s semi-final night in the US Open on Thursday with both matches taking place in what looks like being a fantastic night session on the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York as we get set to finalise the ladies final which takes place on Saturday evening.
Three of the biggest names in the women’s game and a rising star from the host country form the four competitors looking to make it through to the final of the second Grand Slam of what has been a strange year of tennis.
Day 10 Recap
We were hopeful of some great matches on Wednesday but we didn’t really get much to cheer about where that is concerned. It looked like being an incredible day of tennis when Serena Williams outlasted Tsvetana Pironkova in a three set cracker but the rest of the matches were all decided in straight sets. Daniil Medvedev beat Andrey Rublev in three close sets before Victoria Azarenka overpowered Elise Mertens and then Dominic Thiem was borderline unplayable to see off Alex de Minaur.
After the positive of Tuesday it was a day to forget for us in the betting department on Wednesday when Victoria Azarenka and Dominic Thiem just put on performances that laid down a marker that they are the champions in waiting for their respective draws. There was brief hope that de Minaur would win the third set when he broke for 4-4 but those hopes were soon dashed in emphatic style.
Jennifer Brady vs Naomi Osaka
The opening semi-final of the competition sees the American ace who won in Lexington last month in Jennifer Brady taking on the player who won here in 2018 in Naomi Osaka in a match that should not be short of firepower between two of the cleanest hitters of the ball in the game right now.
Brady hasn’t just come through the draw so far, she has done so without dropping a set and is ripping winners from all angles and playing an aggressive style of tennis that even defensive stars like Angelique Kerber couldn’t contain. It will be interesting to see how the power game of Naomi Osaka can handle it. She is a good mover and hits a clean ball herself and has been serving brilliantly well this week. The laboured struggles of the first couple of rounds look to be a thing of the past.
Osaka has seen off a couple of big hitters in the last two rounds with the minimum of fuss and while Brady has been brilliant in this tournament you have to wonder how she’ll fare if she is behind early. She hasn’t been behind in this event yet but going behind to Osaka isn’t a recommended strategy. This week Osaka has looked like the likely winner of this tournament and I fancy her to come through in straight sets here.
Special Offer
Opt in and place 5 accumulators either in a Boylesports shop or online and get an acca free! Click the image below to bet. ALL CUSTOMERS! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Serena Williams vs Victoria Azarenka
The first semi-final is a decent starter to proceedings but the second one is a main course to savour between two Grand Slam champions who look close to their best form as Serena Williams takes on Victoria Azarenka in a belter of a contest.
Serena has had to battle throughout the tournament, coming through a series of three set matches whereas her opponent Azarenka not only arrives in this semi-final off the back of winning in the Cincinnati event last week but also having dropped just the one set in this fortnight, which came against a Karolina Muchova who was inspired in the set that she won. Clearly these are two stalwarts who are playing very well.
This should be a great game and one that contains plenty of games. The games line here is 21.5 which I think is a little low. I expect this to go to the third set but I’m happy to take the over on the game line because even a tiebreak set and a normal set has this line covered. I don’t expect much in the way of quarters given here and what will hopefully live up to the expectation can sail over the 21.5 games mark.
Tips
Back N.Osaka to win 2-0 for a 3/10 stake at 2.04 with 888sport
WON – Back S.Williams vs V.Azarenka – Over 21.5 games for a 3/10 stake at 1.75 with 888sport
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
