French Open Day 10: Sharapova’s victor pegged to advance
Published:
For the first time in three years Maria Sharapova won’t be in the women’s final of the French Open.
The Russian number two seed was dumped out in the fourth round by Czech Republic upstart Lucie Safarova and the number 13 seed features heavily in our look at the best bets of day 10:
Safarova has cruised into the quarter finals at Roland Garros, despite having to face two former Grand Slam finalists in the last two rounds.
The 28-year-old prefaced her surprise 6-3, 7-6 win over Sharapova with a triumph over former Wimbledon silver medallist Sabine Lisicki and is yet to drop a set in Paris so far.
Her opponent has sprung a surprise of her own to reach this point of the tournament, beating Angelique Kerber in the third round, but has never gone beyond the quarter finals of any Grand Slam.
When considering the 2/1 about a Wawrinka victory here, the two wins the Swiss has compiled against his compatriot must make for a sizeable chunk of the argument.
The realisation that those are the only two wins the 2014 Australian Open champion has managed in 18 meetings with his great friend brings a swift conclusion to the case, especially as Federer has even triumphed in previous French Open battles against Wawrinka.
Their 2011 meeting in Paris ended in a straight-sets victory for the former world number one and the 33-year-old has recorded another easy victory on the dirt this year.
The sight of the burly Frenchman in the quarter finals could signal a return to Tsonga’s best form.
During a golden period between 2010 and 2013, the 30-year-old reached the last eight or better in at least two Grand Slam tournaments every year.
In reaching the latter stages here, the former world number five has battled past number four seed Tomas Berdych and looked unflustered in his outings prior to that.
His opponent is in unchartered waters too having previously had a best showing of the fourth round at this tournament. Tsonga’s greater experience could be key.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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