Australian Open Women's Betting: Sharapova will fight to end her losing streak

Yet again Sharapova must battle against her great rival

Two familiar foes face off in the Australian Open 2015 final, and Abelson Info consider the chances of Maria Sharapova being able to topple Serena Williams...

With her win over Madison Keys last time out securing her place in the final, Williams also ensured that she would remain the world number one after this tournament.

In addition, she's now through to her 23rd Grand Slam final and the American star has gone 18-4 ahead of potentially continuing her domination of Sharapova in their head-to-head.

However, the second seed should have closely watched her rival's encounter with Keys, as the teenager showed how to cause Williams problems in the first set.

Keys also held off eight match points to frustrate her fellow American, but ultimately Williams had too much for her to cope with and saw the match out.

That has been the story of the top seed's tournament in a sense as she has found a way to overcome any problems that she has encountered along the way. Although there were some straight forward wins early on, Williams came through back-to-back three-set matches before eventually seeing off Keys.

That will give her great confidence ahead of the finale on Saturday, and her head-to-head record against Sharapova makes for pleasant reading too.

Williams leads 16-2 in their previous meetings and has incredibly won the last 15 straight against the Russian ace. The last five have come in straight sets, with Sharapova last causing her rival genuine problems back in 2013 in Miami.

Nevertheless, this situation is nothing new for Sharapova and she won't be overawed by the occasion given that this is her 10th Grand Slam final.
The world number two wasted little time in getting past Ekaterina Makarova last time out and her second-round scare against Panova in which she saved two match points seems like a distant memory.

Sharapova conceded that she struggles to deal with Williams' power and aggressiveness, as in turn she is forced into taking shots that she doesn't necessarily want to take.

Although it is undoubtedly easier said than done, she needs to adjust and adapt her game to her rival on Saturday to stand any chance but given the level of maturity and fighting spirit she has shown recently, we believe that this won't be another walkover.

Given the history between these two it is so difficult to have confidence in backing Sharapova, but it would be unwise to rule her out before a ball has even been struck.

As our tournament tip, there was always a risk that this match-up could end our hopes at the final hurdle. As a result, if you can't bring yourself round to backing the Russian to win, then the value can be found elsewhere by backing her to make a fist of it.

Save for a bad day at the office from Williams it is going to take something special from Sharapova to pick up the first Grand Slam title of 2015. Her rival has shown glimpses of struggling and so she will need to pounce at the first hint on Saturday in order to finally end the streak.

Recommended Bets
Back Sharapova to beat Williams @ 3.3512/5
Back Three Sets in Williams vs Sharapova @ 2.526/4

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