Australian Open Women's Betting: Bouchard to end Garcia's hopes

Bouchard too hot for Garcia...

We're on to Day Five in Melbourne and Abelson Info have a closer look at some stand-out third round clashes on Friday. Remember, you can watch all the action for free on Betfair Live Video, as long as you have funds in your account...

With so many top seeds crashing out of the tournament early on, the third round draw may look a little unfamiliar with a number of new faces hoping to impress.

Maria Sharapova leads the way on Friday as she looks to get past Zarina Diyas and despite her scare last time out, she will be confident of her ability to secure her place in the fourth round.

Alexandra Panova was able to take the second seed the distance on Wednesday, that should have woken Sharapova up and made her realise that nothing will be given to her in these early rounds.

In addition, Diyas is coming in off the back of a marathon final set in her last match and the last thing she needs is to worry about fatigue against a heavy-hitting and world-class opponent. 

However, it won't be so easy for two other top names on the tour as Sara Errani faces a tricky encounter with Yanina Wickmayer. The Belgian leads 3-2 in her head-to-head record against the world number fourteen, and she has experience of beating her at this venue back in 2010. However, that was in fact her last win over the Italian and Errani has since beaten her twice.

Nevertheless, Errani has needed three sets on both occasions, and so this is a match-up that clearly tests her. While we expect the Italian ace to come through, Wickmayer won't be a walkover and so the games market is one to look at.

Elsewhere, Simona Halep has also had her troubles against her next opponent, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, but the pair haven't faced off in over four years and the Romanian star is a completely different proposition now. As a result, she will hope to come through in straight sets which would set up a meeting with either Errani or Wickmayer in the next round.

Meanwhile, the one match that stands out in particular on Friday is Eugenie Bouchard's clash with Caroline Garcia. Bouchard has picked up from where she left in the Slams last year and has cruised through the opening two rounds without dropping a set.

The Canadian star has a terrific following wherever she goes and she will relish the chance to book her spot in Week Two in Melbourne with another solid performance.

However, standing in her way is Garcia, with the 21-year-old French starlet continuing to get people to sit up and take notice as she maintains her ascent up the world rankings.

Garcia has never been beyond the third round of a Grand Slam, and while we have backed her in her previous matches, this is unfortunately where the road ends although it would come as no surprise if she gives her opponent a scare along the way.

Bouchard brings her best tennis to the major tournaments and she will be looking at the draw and quietly setting her sights on a quarter-final clash with Sharapova.

Recommended Bets:
Back Bouchard -4.5 Games vs Garcia @ 1.84/5
Back Over 21.5 Games in Errani-Wickmayer @ 2.021/1
Back Sharapova -6.5 Games vs Diyas @ 1.9520/21

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