Halep – Kerber

Simona Halep will take on Angelique Kerber on Thursday morning (European time) in the Australian Open Women’s semifinals, with Kerber being currently rated as a 1.70 odds favorite by the bookies.

Simona Halep had a peculiar tournament so far, struggling with injury in the first round and then almost being knocked out in the third round by Davis, winning 15-13 in the decider. However, the Romanian has raised her level in her last two matches against Osaka and Pliskova, culminating with a very good performance in her 6-3 6-2 quarterfinal destruction of Pliskova.

After a dreadful 2017, Kerber came out guns blazing this year, and has had an excellent tournament so far. The German defeated Friedsam, Vekic, Sharapova, Hsieh and Keys, losing a single set – in the fourth round against Hsieh. She put in a masterclass performance against Keys in the quarterfinals, taking all momentum away from the American and grinding her down from the baseline for a 6-1 6-2 victory.

Bet on Halep v Kerber and claim a 100% (100 Eur) welcome bonus at Ohmbet now!

The H2H is tied at 4-4 (Halep leads 4-3 on hard), but a deeper analysis might reflect that Kerber actually has a slight matchup advantage over the Romanian. Not only did Kerber win the more important matches (Masters Cup, Grand Slams), but she also won 4 of the last 5 meetings. Also, Kerber`s wins were dominant, while Halep needed a deciding set in 3 of her 4 victories.

Both players are in fine form and are unbeaten in 2018, each of them winning a tournament before Australian Open as well. However, watching these two over the course of the past 10 days, you have to feel that Kerber has been a bit better – also because she had a more difficult draw.

Halep`s first real test was in the quarterfinals against Pliskova and she passed it with flying colours, but she did it by frustrating Pliskova from the baseline, forcing mistakes from her, and using her slow movement to hit winners. Halep will need a completely different gameplan this time around, because that approach will not work against a brilliant defender like Kerber.

The German is back at her Grand Slam winning form, and when she`s playing like this, she is very tought to beat. She won her last three semifinals at Grand Slam level and is a big match player, unlike Halep, who often collapses in semifinals and finals. As such, you would expect Kerber to have the mental edge – especially as she also dominated the H2H with Halep recently, and beat her in the big matches they played.

Look for an intense baseline battle, but Kerber should have enough to get on top. I rate her as playing slightly better tennis right now, she should have the mental edge and also recently dominated the H2H. All these added together seem to create enough of an advantage for Kerber in this match, so I am happy to bet 8 units on her victory.

My tip is Kerber to win. Prediction: Simona Halep – Angelique Kerber 4-6 6-3 3-6.

Pick: Kerber
Odds: 1.79 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.32
Event date: 25 January