WTA Sony Open Betting: Imperious Sharapova to dispatch Errani

 

Having conquered Indian Wells just under a fortnight ago, Maria Sharapova looks focused on adding another title to her 2013 collection. Sara Errani now stands in her way, while Roberta Vinci will face Jelena Jankovic in the last of the quarter finals.

 

As expected, both Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska progressed yesterday to set up a heavyweight clash in the first of the semi-finals. They will be looking on with interest at Wednesday's proceedings to see who will advance from the bottom half of the draw.

 

World number two Sharapova has breezed through thus far without dropping a single set and hasn't even looked in danger of doing so. She lost just four games in her demolition job of Klara Zakopalova in the last round, and remains on course to seal back-to-back tournament wins.

 

The Russian third seed will now face Errani, who did well to recover against Ana Ivanovic in her last outing. After losing the first set, the Italian bounced back with aplomb and wrapped up the match with few problems.

 

It was the first real test for her in Miami, having comfortably come through matches against Daniela Hantuchova and Simona Halep previously. She will look to draw on those battling qualities to defy the odds and seal an upset over her in-form opponent.

 

These two met at the same stage in Indian Wells, with Sharapova completing a straight sets win to advance. That took her record against the world number seven to three wins in three and she is a strong favourite at 1.16 to extend that winning streak. Sharapova certainly should prevail but expect Errani to test her resolve and if she can take her to a tie break in either of the first two sets then that will take the total games over the 19.5 line.

 

The other quarter-final on Wednesday is a little less clear-cut, with either Jankovic or Vinci hoping to secure a potential clash with Sharapova.

 

15th seed Vinci has had a real struggle throughout the past week or so, coming through three consecutive three-setters to reach this stage. She has dropped the first set on all three occasions, and Jankovic is worth a small investment to win the opener.

 

The enormous effort that has been required from Vinci so far will surely eventually take its toll on her, but as she has demonstrated, her fighting spirit means she can never be ruled out.

 

Jankovic's passage has been pretty straight forward in comparison, advancing without dropping a set with impressive wins over fellow seeds Nadia Petrova and Sorana Cirstea in the last two rounds.

 

The Serbian world number 24 has looked in good form over the course of the tournament, and is a slight favourite at 1.79 to prevail over a weary Vinci.

 

Jankovic leads the head-to-head record but Vinci has won their last two meetings, the most recent of which came at the Australian Open. That match also went the distance, so back the Italian to defy the laws of stamina and come out on top in another hard-fought battle.

 

Recommended Bets:

Back Sharapova to beat Errani 2-0 @ 1.49

Back Sharapova-Errani Over 19.5 games @ 2.12

Back Jankovic to win first set against Vinci @ 1.79

Back Vinci to beat Jankovic @ 2.24

 

Bet HERE

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