Maria Sharapova vs. Venus Williams: Quarter-Final Preview - Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2012
Old rivals meet again; its Russian second seed, Maria Sharapova, taking on the former world number one, Venus Williams, in the quarter-final of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The clash of the titans will take place on the Saturday
eve. It is expected that a mammoth crowd will jumble up at the red clay court arena in Rome, Italy.
World number two, Maria Sharapova, will look to inch one step closer to a successful title defence whereas the American tennis ace will be eyeing to reach the advanced stage of the tournament with a triumph over the Russian. Something
she hasn’t been able to do since her comeback to the professional tennis circuit this year.
Putting some light on the previous battle being played between the two players, Sharapova has won three out of eight which means that head-to-head statistics favours Williams. Moving deep into the statistics, Williams has won the
last three encounters against the Russian but the latest one was played almost three years so that will have no affect at all on the clash being played on Saturday. Sharapova is the superior ranked competitor and the hot favourite to sustain the title especially
after the early departure of the world number one, Victoria Azarenka, who incurred a right shoulder injury.
This season, the Russian tennis ace has been the most prominent player, who has reached the advanced stages of almost all the tournaments, she had played. She has contested five finals in just five months already that includes
the successful maiden title campaign in Stuttgart, Germany.
On the other hand, Williams has been struggling to play continuous tennis due to her illness. She is still not fully fit and that factor can go against her. However, her performance in the tournaments she had played is superb and
there is no doubt that she is capable of pulling up an upset against the Russian.
In this tournament, Sharapova received a first round Bye so started her campaign in the second set against the American booming starlet, Christina McHale. She was tested rigorously in her opening match but survived several downturns
to register a straight sets win. In her second match, she locked horns with the Serb tennis ace, Ana Ivanovic; once again, she dug deep to fight back a double break down in the second set to oust her rival. So, it has been a rough ride for the Russian overall
but her strong character is the plus point at the moment.
Williams squashed the Romanian 20-year-old, Simona Halep, in straight sets before powering down Ekaterina Makarova in the second round. The major triumph for the American came in the third round when she trounced the fifth seed
Aussie, Samantha Stosur, in straight sets.
So, it means that both players are yet to lose a set in this tournament and one of them will bow down on Saturday. However, I would love to see a three-setter reaching the tie-breaker in the final set. My pick for the match is
the defending champion, Maria Sharapova.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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