Dementieva cannot be backed with confidence having struggled in her first match returning from injury.

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Elena Dementieva will face her first big test since making her comeback from injury as she has drawn Maria Sharapova in the WTA Stanford event.

Sharapova, despite being outranked by Dementieva, is the favorite as Ladbrokes (F25 is your registration promo code) have odds of -162 (5/8) available for a straight up Sharapova pick.

Dementieva is priced at +162 (8/5) with Victor Chandler for the near overlay.

These two players have not met since the championship match last year in Toronto where Dementieva won in straight sets however in the overall head to head series, it is Sharapova that has beaten Dementieva 8 times out of 11.

All 3 of Dementieva's victories over Sharapova have come on hard court which suggests that the Stanford match could be a tight affair.

It is Sharapova who is on the better form at the Stanford event as she has cruised through 2 opponents in straight sets on both occasions.  That includes a victory over Jie Zheng, a tricky opponent who made the Aussie semis earlier this year.

Dementieva, as the 2 seed in the Stanford field, was awarded a bye through the first round and in the second round she had to overcome a spirited effort by Kimiko Date Krumm, a near 40 year old who managed to take the first set off of Dementieva.  Dementieva is coming back from a bit of a layoff due to injury and she is not a confident bet at this point as a result.

Our recommendation is to take Sharapova to win straight up with Ladbrokes at -162.

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