Australian Open Women's Betting: Williams and Sharapova to set up showdown

Are the world's top two set to meet in another Grand Slam final?

We're down to the last four in Melbourne as Abelson Info make their predictions for the finalists of the Australian Open 2015...

World number one Serena Williams wasted little time in making her first semi-final here since winning the title in 2010, as she defeated Dominika Cibulkova in just over an hour.

Williams crashed 15 aces and 31 winners past her Slovakian rival, and if there were any doubts about her form after being pushed all the way by Svitolina and Muguruza in previous rounds, the American answered her critics in emphatic fashion.

Cibulkova conceded that the top seed "didn't give me any time to breathe on the court", and that is something that teenage star Madison Keys will have to deal with on Thursday.

Keys has had a sensational breakthrough tournament in Melbourne this year, and after dispatching of Venus Williams last time out, she will be looking for the biggest scalp of all in her next match.

The 19-year-old is rightly considered one of the most promising rising stars on the WTA tour, and she took another step closer to fulfilling a dream after coming through a gruelling three-set match against her compatriot.

Although she suffered from a dip in the second set against Venus, she ensured that the momentum swung back in her favour in the third as she closed the match out and secured her spot in her maiden Grand Slam semi-final.

With Williams and Kvitova now behind her, Keys will have to figure out a plan to overcome Serena and she will have some wise words in her corner given that former world number one Lindsay Davenport has been coaching her since the off-season.

Keys has never played Williams before, and although we believe that she has the game to compete with her fellow American she is prone to a slight dip in her consistency and that is when Williams will take over.

If Keys can control her emotions and maintain her accuracy then an upset is certainly possible, but it is a lot to ask with Williams staring you down from the other end of the court.

As a result, back Williams to prevail with value in the set betting and games market.

In the other semi-final, our tournament tip Maria Sharapova is still going strong and we will keep faith in her as she prepares to take on Ekaterina Makarova.

Makarova has had a brilliant run in this tournament, with the icing on the cake so far being her comfortable straight sets win over Simona Halep last time out.

The Russian ace hasn't even lost a single set yet, but that record will be thoroughly tested by Sharapova who looks to be in great form and has won all five of their previous meetings, the last four coming in straight sets.

Having produced an impressive performance against Bouchard in the last round, we expect the second seed to prevail and set up a clash with a familiar foe in Saturday's final.

Recommended Bets
Back S Williams -5.5 Games vs Keys @ 1.9210/11
Back Over 20.5 Games in Makarova vs Sharapova @ 1.9420/21

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