And now we’re down to the final four. The 2016 Australian Open now moves into the semifinals on Thursday afternoon from Melbourne where four contests will become the final two. It’s been a tournament full of upsets and we had another dose of them in the quarters. Although No. 1 Serena Williams rolled on, disposing of Maria Sharapova without any problems, Angelique Kerber sprung one of the bigger upsets of the event by ousting No. 14 Victoria Azarenka. Although Azarenka was the lower seed, she entered the match as a -500 favorite. One of the main reasons for that is she was a perfect 6-0 in her career against the German prior to that showdown and she had not dropped a single set in this entire Australian Open. Even so, she got swept off, losing in straight sets.
The final four is set up to lift Serena Williams to another major championship as there’s nothing in front of her that she can’t handle.For all intents and purposes, her semifinal is the final as Radwanska is deemed as the second-strongest female left. If Williams doesn’t win the tournament, someone else will win a Grand Slam event for the first time, which goes to show the big gap in experience that she has over everyone.
Serena Williams vs. Agnieszka Radwanska
Odds: Williams -600
The first semifinal match on Thursday features the top seed and the favorite, Serena Williams. This is a rematch of the 2012 Wimbledon final, in which Serena was a huge favorite but watched Radwanska take the match into a third set. Serena, proving herself to be the champion she is, was able to win in three sets, but Radwanska made her fight for it all the way. There is certainly a chance that the number four seed could give Serena a battle. That’s clear.
However, Serena certainly enters this match with the upper hand. She authoritatively defeated Maria Sharapova, the second-best active player in women’s tennis, in the quarterfinals. Serena took a 6-4, 6-1 decision by ultimately swatting Sharapova off the court after a nervous and uneasy first set. Serena loosened up in every way in that second set. She hit the ball more freely, she ran and anticipated a lot better than she had in the first set. Her feet moved more quickly – she didn’t get stuck and was a lot more responsive. As long as these parts of Serena’s game are in place, enabling her to quickly get into the flow of the match, she should be relatively untroubled. Just in case you’re still not sure about Serena in this match, realize that Radwanska – despite a great run here to the semifinals – is fortunate that she’s around. She was down 5-2 to Anna-Lena Friedsam in the fourth round of the tournament, when Friedsam soon began to cramp up and experience noticeable pain. That fortunate moment carried Radwanska into the quarterfinals, where she won a majority of her points by way of errors from her opponent, Carla Suarez-Navarro. Radwanska is playing solid tennis, but she’s not playing well enough to beat Serena if Serena is reasonably strong. Take Serena in straight sets as she’ll advance to the Australian Open final.
Pick: Williams in straight sets
Angelique Kerber vs. Johanna Konta
The second semifinal match on Thursday has a Cinderella story and a redemption story. Cinderella is named Johanna Konta, and she has produced the kind of incredible run on which dreams are made of. Konta has already won the biggest prize-money paycheck of her career by reaching the semifinals here. She does not seem to overthink matches, but she does have problems closing the end of sets. She has shown that she’ll get nervous if it’s close.
However, this match might not be close.
Kerber scored a very big win by upsetting No. 14 seed Victoria Azarenka on Wednesday night in the Australian Open quarters. She was the higher seed at No. 7, but her win over Azarenka rates as an upset. Kerber had never beaten Azarenka before. She’s never made a major final before. Well, now she’s beaten Azarenka and is one win away from making a major final. She has the experience Konta lacks. Kerber is also much better at defending on the run. Konta can’t do that as well. The more you look at these two players’ skill sets, you can see that Kerber has a lot more to draw from.
Pick: Kerber in straight sets
