No upsets in sight tonight...

 

The Quarter finals are upon us already and in the first two matches it's hard to look past the favourites...

 

It was business as usual for Maria Sharapova last night as she demolished young Spaniard Lara Arruabarreno-Vecino in 78 minutes. Any hopes that Vecino would make it a  competitive match after taking Sharapova so close in the first set were quickly dashed as the Russian rattled off eight games in a row to advance to her sixth  quarter-final appearance at Indian Wells.

 

Marion Bartoli was disappointing yesterday, but Sara Errani was very impressive. The Italian showed great stamina and fitness, and along with her depth of approach and  weight of shot, she kept Bartoli on the defensive for the majority of the match and made her look very flat-footed.

 

Errani now faces world number three Sharapova in what will be a repeat of last year's French Open final in which Sharapova won in straight sets. Once again, and as is  the case with most Sharapova matches the match will be decided on her racket. She has always been prone to more than the average amount of double-faults. Furthermore  her relentless search for the line and her refusal to compromise her attacking style means she will hit just as many winners as unforced errors.

 

Sharapova will be buoyed by a perfect head to head record over Errani, and spurned on by a desire to win her first tournament since her French Open victory nearly a  year ago (she has made three finals and three semis since that victory). Sharapova hits the ball very flat and very hard and she does it better than anyone else and  that should see her safely through to the semis.

 

In the other quarter-final tonight Petra Kvitova faces Maria Kirilenko who last night overcame a deficit in the final set to defeat Agnieszka Radwanska. She showed  tremendous grit and fight, a quality she is renowned for, and it's a testament to how much she has improved in the last few years that she can now mix it with the  best. Long rallies dominated yesterday's match but tonight will be a different story. As a player Kvitova is totally different, whereas Radwanska likes to bide her  time in the rally and force an error, Kvitova likes to dominate the rallies and kill the point. This all makes the Under 21.5 games market appealing at 1.92.

 

Athough Kirilenko has beaten Kvitova in the past, notably at last year's Olympics, it will be asking a lot for her to backup after her win last night. Kvitova in her  interview yesterday put paid to doubts about her asthma saying that she likes the dry heat of California and is not suffering any ill-affects. She showed enough  quality yesterday to make me think that she can win again here tonight, and quickly.

 

Recommended bets:

Maria Sharapova to win 2-0 @ 1.54

Petra Kvitova to win 2-0 @ 2.06

 

Bet HERE

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