Thursday, July 06, 2006

4th time lucky ?




Amelie Mauresmo plays in her 4th consecutive Wimbledon semi today, she has yet to reach a final. Lets be honest, the problem is her nerves, she admits to getting very nervous in big matches, did not sleep before last year's sf against Lindsay Davenport, where she again threw away a winning position 7-6 4-3 and serving. Amelie has been labeled a "choker", the new Jana Novotna, but even she won Wimbledon in the end.

The French woman looked to have finally erased these demons with a grand slam victory in Australia earlier this year, but the same problems arose in Roland Garros, where the public expectation is so great. She has a fantastic game for grass, huge serve, good ground strokes and is not afraid to come to the net, the best vollyer by far.

Today she faces the only previous winner left in the tournament, Maria Sharapova, the Russian looked majestic in the quarters, but was poor in the previous round making 41 unforced errors.
Since winning Wimbledon, MS has had her own problems "going the final yard", losing in 4 consecutive grand slam semi-finals.

Both women have been dominant on serve, with 82% and 75% of first serve points won, in favour of Mauresmo. Who also leads the h2h 2-0, both wins coming in straight sets on a hard court. She would be favourite with me (1.80) if there were no concerns about her temperament, but there are, which is why we can back her at 2.65, an extra 17% or so, which seems fair. This may look very generous come this evening. We have had rain in the area this morning, it looks brighter now, hope any interruptions are kept to a mimimum.

4 points Mauresmo 2.65 unibet/ similar odds available on betfair.

Good Luck.

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