Wimbledon Tip: Azarenka V Kvitova

The winner of the opening set of the first Ladies’ semi-final should be expected to book her place in Saturday’s final. In four previous head-to-head meetings between Azarenka and Kvitova the winner of the first set has gone on to win the next as well. Momentum has never been more important than when the pair met on grass for the only time, at Wimbledon last year. What happened then gives Kvitova the edge and leads us to back her to win this clash in straight sets at odds of 2/1 with WilliamHill.

In the third round of the 2010 championships Azarenka served for the first set at 5-4 but failed to convert. The Belarusian reacted so badly to that disappointment that she lost the next nine games in a 7-5 6-0 defeat to Thursday’s opponent. Admittedly, the world number five can look like a champion when things are going her way, as they did in the 6-3 6-1 quarter-final victory over Tamira Paszek, but Kvitova represents a big step up in quality.

The Czech went all the way to the semi-finals at the All-England Club last year before champion Serena Williams stopped her bid. That experience will only do her good this time round. With a ferocious big serve and the capacity to fire a high number of outright winners, Kvitova looks like a potential finalist. If she starts well then Azarenka may have no response. Back the 2/1 on the eighth seed winning 2-0.