08:30 – S Williams v Sharapova
There has been a lot of talk about Williams being ill and there is little doubt she has had some sort of affliction during the tournament. She pulled out of a training session this morning but trained later with the session going well.
Sharapova has been playing probably the most consistent tennis that we have seen from her for a while. She has had just 1 match in which she struggled. She has controlled every other match.
Williams has dominated their matches in recent times. She has won their last 15 encounters and it is 2004 since Sharapova beat her.
Williams’ illness seems to have been managed well so far and her performances on court. She starts at 1.49 but I think we could see an early break of serve for Sharapova so I am waiting for that before backing Williams.