Sharapova may advance but you can't feel confident in a dominating victory given her service problems.
Maria Sharapova eliminated Elena Dementieva last night at the WTA Stanford event in what was hardly a routine match.
Sharapova, now draws Agnieszka Radwankska in the semifinals in what could be a competitive affair. Sharapova is favored to win the match with bet365 at betting odds of -300 (1/3) while Radwanska is a +225 (9/4) underdog.
The head to head series between the two players has been one-sided so far as Sharapova is 4-1 against Radwanska straight up. They have met 4 times on hard court and in the 3 most recent matches on that surface, Sharapova has won all 3 times.
In terms of form at the WTA Stanford event, both players have dropped one set so far although it is Sharapova that has had the tougher draw. The problem with Sharapova's form is that she has some service problems to say the least as the Russian had 15 double faults in her semifinal match against Dementieva.
Sharapova's tendency to commit double faults make her vulnerable to service breaks and that may give Radwanska an opportunity to stay in the semifinal match.
Take Radwanska at -150 to cover a +4.5 handicap as she should be able to play Sharapova tight. If Radwanska can capitalize on Sharapova's service problems she should force a tiebreaker or win a set outright and that would give her an excellent chance to cover at +4.5.
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