WTA Western and Southern Open Betting: Wozniacki set to test Serena Williams

Can Sharapova win through to take on old rival Serena WIlliams?

We're down to the last four in Cincinnati and Abelson Info preview the semi-final clashes with a quartet of top seeds in action...

World number one Serena Williams moved one step closer to her first Western and Southern title after her win over Jelena Jankovic on Friday.

The American ace had dominated her previous encounters with her Serbian rival, and it was no different this time round as she came through in straight sets to improve on their head-to-head record to 10-4.

Her reward is a semi-final clash with in-form Caroline Wozniacki, with the 12th seed ending Agnieszka Radwanska's tournament last time out.

Radwanska arrived off the back of her success at the Rogers Cup, and although it didn't go the distance as we suggested, Wozniacki was always in with a chance of winning and she eventually overcame her opponent in a tight two-setter.

The Dane will be familiar with Williams given that they were involved in an epic three-set match in Montreal last week, but after letting her opportunity slip on that occasion she will be out for revenge this time round.

Williams leads Wozniacki in their head-to-head record, 7-1, but on the basis of last week and the latter's continued impressive form which has seen her win 11 of 12 matches since Wimbledon, this could be another tightly contested battle.

Meanwhile, in the other semi-final, fifth seed Maria Sharapova will face Ana Ivanovic with the two individuals having relatively contrasting weeks thus far.

Following on from her disappointing early exit at the Rogers Cup, Ivanovic has finally stepped up and delivered consistent performances, something that we were sure she was capable of despite her failure in Montreal last week.

Aside from a tough third round match with Svetlana Kuznetsova, the ninth seed has eased through the rounds and is looking in good form, but this will undoubtedly be her biggest test yet.

Sharapova had already come through a real battle against Madison Keys earlier this week and as expected Simona Halep didn't make it any easier for her on Friday.

The battle between the top two players on the Road to Singapore leaderboard saw the Russian prevail, but she had to dig deep again and showcase her powers of recovery after dropping the first set and going a break down in a two-and-a-half hour marathon encounter.

Nevertheless, she is through to another semi-final, and she will be confident of her chances moving forward as she leads Ivanovic 8-3 in their head-to-head.

While Ivanovic will take some confidence from the fact that she won their last meeting in Rome which was on clay, her record against Sharapova on hard courts makes for bad viewing as she has lost on all four occasions.

We envisage that trend continuing on Saturday, as the possibility of Williams and Sharapova locking horns again becomes a genuine possibility.

Recommended Bets:
Back Under 21.5 Games in Ivanovic vs Sharapova @ 1.9620/21
Back Wozniacki +4.5 Games vs Serena Williams @ 1.875/6