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Viktoria Azarenka will square off against Simona Halep in a highly anticipated fourth round clash on the Women’s side of the draw at Wimbledon.
Viktoria Azarenka came back on tour a few weeks ago after a 1 year maternity leave, and she did look half decent in the 5 matches she played so far since her return to tennis. However, Vika was nowhere near her best level, and she had some problems in reaching the 4th round here at Wimbledon. Azarenka got past Bellis, Vesnina and Watson, neither of them being solid players and / or in good form. Vika lost two sets along the way.
Simona Halep entered the grass court season after a brilliant and consistent run on clay, which ended with a defeat in the Roland Garros final. As expected, Halep did not show the same level on grass, which is by far her worst surface. Simona crawled towards a QF showing at Eastbourne (lost to Wozniacki) and has not lost a set so far at Wimbledon, but her tennis wasn`t anything to shout about. Halep dominated Erakovic in the first round but after that she had two very difficult two setters against Haddad Maia (7-5 6-3) and Peng (6-4 7-6) – being lucky to win both in straight.
Bet on Azarenka vs. Halep and claim your 100% (100 Eur) freebet at Ohmbet now!Azarenka leads the H2H 2-1 (0-0 on grass), but the only noteworthy meeting was in 2015, when Halep won in 3 sets at the US Open. The other two were back in 2012 when Halep was just a regular Top 100 player.
It will be a clash of styles between an offensive player (Azarenka) and a baseliner who is more defensive than offensive oriented (Halep). Grass will be a big advantage for Azarenka, as Halep does not have the game to do damage on the green and her results have been traditionally below her standards on the surface.
Both players have shown plenty of weaknesses and neither one of them is close to her best level. Azarenka looks rusty with flashes of brilliance, while Halep is at a consistent “Ok” level, but making more errors than usual and visibly struggling to replicate her clay court form on grass.
I do believe Halep should have enough to win given her long term form and given Azarenka’s lack of match practice. Simona won`t allow Azarenka to escape with the errors she made in the previous rounds, and the Romanian should have a physical advantage as well (Azarenka possibly collapsing if it goes the distance). However, Simona is just not good enough on grass to be trusted here at odds of 1.60 in my opinion. If Azarenka somehow finds her best level out of a sudden, Halep wouldn`t have an answer for that on the green.
It`s hard to see either player staying consistent enough to dominate the vast majority of the match. As such, this looks like it will go 3 sets. I am going with the total games line here, which is pretty low in my eyes. My tip is over 22 games, which can also be covered in a tight 2 setter. Prediction: Viktoria Azarenka – Simona Halep 7-5 4-6 2-6.
Pick: over 22 games
Odds: 1.92 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.36
Event date: 10 July
