Kerber the pick of German giantkillers

German girls Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki knocked out Grand Slam champions to make the Wimbledon women`s singles quarter-finals but the odds and head-to-head statistics favour the former beating the latter on Centre Court.

Kerber and Lisicki have met four times in their careers and Kerber, winner of two singles titles already this year, leads their private battle by four matches to nil.

Their first meeting was on a Saguenay hard court in 2007 when Kerber won 6-3 6-4. Since then Kerber has defeated Lisicki 6-7 6-1 6-2 on a Rosmalen grass court in 2008, 6-4 4-3 (retired) on an Auckland hard court in 2012 and 4-6 6-4 6-1 on a Doha hard court, also at the beginning this year.

While Lisicki beat Maria Sharapova yesterday and announced herself on the world stage by reaching the last four of Wimbledon 12 months ago, Kerber`s form on grass, added to her head-to-head dominance, makes her the bet here.

Kerber made the Queen`s Club final the week before The Championships and won the first set before going down 7-5 3-6 5-7 to fellow Wimbledon quarter-finalist Tamira Paszek.

The 24-year-old from the port city of Bremen is one of the three Wimbledon quarter-finalists who have not dropped a set in the tournament. Indeed, Kerber has dropped only 20 games, including just two to everyone`s favourite, Kim Clijsters, yesterday in what was the performance of the fortnight.

Kerber is generally available at 8-15 to qualify for her first Grand Slam semi-final and, in an incredibly open year, she is not the worst bet at around 6-1 to go all the way.

The other quarter-final in the top half of the draw sees Agnieszka Radwanska play Maria Kirilenko. They have met seven times previously, with the Pole up 5-2 having won their last four matches dropping only one set in that period. Never have they met on a grass court, though.

Radwanska is around 2-9 to beat Kirilenko and, while the number three seed should do the business, she does not appeal as a betting proposition at such short odds.

Both of the two quarter-finals in the bottom half of the draw boast grass-court head-to-head form for punters to analyse and consider before placing their wagers.

Pre-tournament pick Serena Williams leads Petra Kvitova 2-0 overall and 1-0 on grass, with both of the American`s wins over the Czech coming at majors during the 2010 season.

Williams beat Kvitova 6-2 6-1 in the Australian Open and 7-6 6-2 in Wimbledon but that was back when the former was the world number one and the latter was ranked higher than 60.

Times have changed and, if anything, the best bet on their intriguing third match is the 11-8 available about it going to three sets. It is easy to see it going the distance.

Victoria Azarenka and Tamira Paszek lock horns in the other last-eight clash. The second-seeded Belarusian leads the improving Austrian 2-0, including a comfortable 6-3 6-1 triumph at the same stage of last year`s Wimbledon.

Azarenka is around 1-5 to win again and 4-7 to do so in straight sets. Those odds seem like they are on the money given the head-to-head numbers and the fact that the favourite has dropped only 14 games in getting past Irina Falconi, Romina Oprandi, Jana Cepelova and Ana Ivanovic.

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03/07/2012     © Frixo 2024