Tennis
2009-06-26 - Victoria Azarenka vs Sorana Cirstea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka is one of the real dark horses of the tournament and she has breezed through the last 2 rounds, double bageling poor Olaru in the last round.
Azarenka did not take part in any pre-Wimbledon grass court warm up tournaments after reaching the Quarter Finals at the French Open. She has shown some real quality on the grass courts previously, making the 3rd round of this tournament twice previously.
The young star of Women's tennis won an incredible 80% of the points behind her serve in the last round and did not give her opponent any chances to break her serve.
The returning game was also in good shape with 62% of the points of Olaru's serve being won, and she broke 6 times from 11 chances.
Sorana Cirstea
Sorana Cirstea is ranked in the top 30 of the Woman's game and she is actually a year younger than her opponent. She came through a tough encounter with Sania Mirza in the last round, winning 6-4 6-4.
This is Cirstea's 2nd appearance at Wimbledon and last year she made the 2nd round. She also played in a warm up tournament on the grass courts this season, winning 1 match before losing to Yanina Wickmayer in round 2.
The Romanian won an impressive 67% of the points behind her serve in the last round, and only lost her serve 2 times from 4 break point opportunities.
The victory was based on her 45% returning points won on the Mirza serve and she managed to break serve on 4 occasions from 9 chances she had.
Head to Head
These 2 young players have already met 2 times previously on the tour, with Azarenka winning both matchs without dropping a set. In fact in the 4 sets they have played, Cirstea has only managed to win 4 games.
Both matches have taken place under Grand Slam circumstances, the first being at Roland Garros and the second here at Wimbledon last year.
Azarenka won 6-1, 6-3 against Cirstea here at Wimbledon last season.
Prediction
Victoria Azarenka is one of the bright new stars of the WTA and she has looked very dangerous in her first 2 matches. She is going to want to keep that performance up and she will be comfortable playing a player she has dominated previously.
Sorana Cirstea needs to start well if she has a chance in this match and will look to serve as effectively as she did against Mirza. The first set is really going to set the tone for this match as the previous defeats will be on Cirstea's mind, and a couple of early breaks could lead to a rout.
I think Azarenka will be a real threat on this surface and she should have all the confidence to end this match quickly. I think Azarenka will dominate the match as she has previously and will continue into the 2nd week of the tournament.
The Pick :
Victoria Azarenka
