Petra Kvitova vs Maria Sharapova Betting Preview. Sunday 5th October 2014

Will Maria have her eyes on the prize on Sunday morning?

Petra Kvitova faces Maria Sharapova in the China Open 2014 final and Abelson Info preview their clash in Beijing on Sunday...

The two finalists had contrasting semi-finals to deal with on Saturday, with Kvitova coming through a three-set battle with Sam Stosur while Sharapova dispatched of Ana Ivanovic in two.

Nevertheless, both stars will now prepare for the final in great form, and aside from the financial incentive and personal satisfaction of winning the tournament, they will be battling it out for a third prize too.

The winner of the China Open 2014 final will become the new World No.2, and although both Kvitova and Sharapova have already secured their places in Singapore, it will undoubtedly be a great achievement for the victor.

While it is essentially nothing too new for Sharapova who has held top spot for a significant period of time through her career, for Kvitova it would match her career-high ranking which she set back in 2011.

As a result, it may have an effect on her during the match as she will want to continue to gain momentum and rise up the rankings. The Czech ace is now 8-0 since the US Open and will be going for her fourth WTA title this year.

Meanwhile, for Sharapova it was a case of gaining some measure of revenge against Ivanovic, after she had lost their two meetings including a thriller in Cincinnati in August.

The Russian star came firing out the blocks to take the first set 6-0, but after a mini-comeback from Ivanovic, she was able to see out the match with minimal fuss.

It's been a solid year for the 27-year-old as she has put together a 42-11 record and has won three titles along the way, and she will now be more than ready to face Kvitova.

Sharapova leads their head-to-head record 5-2, winning the last four consecutive encounters over the last two years.

Kvitova's only success came at Wimbledon in 2011 while the other win came via retirement, so Sharapova seemingly has the drop on her rival based on previous results. 

Nevertheless, despite only one of the seven meetings going the distance, Kvitova looks focused and is playing well, so this should be a tightly-contested final.

Nevertheless, Sharapova is considered the favourite despite Kvitova's on-going winning run, and it is difficult to disagree with the odds given how she has dominated their previous match-ups.

As a result, we give our backing to Sharapova to come through to lift another title and secure the World No.2 ranking, and while form suggests this should be close, looking at the history between these two, the value is with backing the Russian ace to come through in straight sets.

Recommended Bets:
Back Sharapova to beat Kvitova 2-0 @ 2.245/4
Back Under 21.5 Games in Sharapova-Kvitova @ 1.9720/21