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Wimbledon 2014: Women's semi-finals preview

Roar Guru
2nd July, 2014
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Roar Guru
2nd July, 2014
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We are now down to the final four women at Wimbledon. The potential is there for either a brand new champion or a two-time champion to lift the trophy.

Of the four women who remain, only Petra Kvitova has won the title. This makes her a sentimental favourite to triumph at the All England Club.

She takes on fellow Czech, left-hander and good friend Lucie Safarova in the bottom half semi-final, while the other place in the final will be decided between world number three Simona Halep and the ever-improving Eugenie Bouchard.

Let’s now preview each of the two semi-finals in detail.

Eugenie Bouchard (13) versus Simona Halep (3)
Head-to-head: Halep 1-0
Last meeting: Halep 6-2, 1-6, 6-4, fourth round, Indian Wells 2014

It is from this semi-final in which a first-time Wimbledon finalist will be guaranteed, and the stakes will be high.

Simona Halep, the world number three, has picked up where she left off last year. Having started 2014 ranked 11th in the world, she reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, entered the top ten and won her biggest career title in Doha.

She also reached the final at Madrid and the French Open, losing on both occasions to Maria Sharapova in three sets. It was on the latter occasion in which she reached her career high ranking of number three.

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Halep has endured little fuss in her five matches so far, but was taken to three sets by the unheralded Lesia Tsurenko in the second round and had to come from 1-4 down in the first set of her quarter-final against Sabine Lisicki to win 6-4, 6-0.

Now, a second consecutive Grand Slam final awaits for the Romanian, who if she wins Wimbledon, will become the first woman from her country to win a Grand Slam title since Virginia Ruzici won Roland Garros in 1978.

Her opponent, Eugenie Bouchard, has also enjoyed a breakout season this year. Having started last year ranked 144th in the world, the Canadian is guaranteed to enter the top ten for the first time in her career regardless of how she fares for the remainder of this tournament.

Bouchard has had some exceptional results this year, reaching the semi-finals at both the Australian and French Opens, losing to the eventual champions, Li Na and Maria Sharapova, respectively.

Apart from those, she also won her first career title in Nuremburg on the eve of the French Open, and also reached the semi-finals at Charleston, where she was edged out by the eventual champion there, Andrea Petkovic.

Among her high-profile victims this year include Ana Ivanovic, Sara Errani, Venus Williams, Jelena Jankovic and Angelique Kerber, who she defeated for a second time this season in her quarter-final here.

She also defeated Alize Cornet, the third-round victor of Serena Williams, in the fourth round in two tight sets, and also dismissed Petkovic easily in the third round.

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The Canadian will be hoping that it’s third time lucky on the Grand Slam stage but history will be against her slightly, with Halep having won their only meeting to date, a fourth-round, three-setter at Indian Wells earlier this year.

The verdict: With both women shooting for a place in their first Wimbledon final, nerves are sure to take over. Halep will, however, have the slight advantage of having reached the French Open final and with her mentality having improved since being thrashed 6-3, 6-0 by Dominika Cibulkova in Australia earlier this year.

Prediction: Simona Halep in three sets.

Lucie Safarova (23) versus Petra Kvitova (6)
Head-to-head: Kvitova 5-0
Last meeting: Kvitova 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), first round, Eastbourne 2014.

It’s now or never for 2011 champion Petra Kvitova. The title is hers to lose.

Her form in the intervening three years has suffered. She was within a victory of clinching the world number one ranking on the eve of the 2012 Australian Open, but later found herself outside the top ten.

Kvitova has endured a poor season so far this year but a deep run at her favourite Grand Slam tournament could prove to be a turning point.

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Apart from being stretched by Venus Williams in the third round, Kvitova has won her other four matches with minimum fuss, and tossed aside compatriot Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova in straight sets in the quarter-finals.

Standing in the way of her and a second Wimbledon title is compatriot Lucie Safarova, who after years of underachieving on the big stage will contest her first ever Grand Slam semi-final.

Safarova, who before this year’s Championships hadn’t reached a Grand Slam quarter-final since upsetting defending champion Amelie Mauresmo in the fourth round of the 2007 Australian Open, defeated Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets to move to this stage of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.

She also took out tenth seed and Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova in the third round, ensuring the Slovak’s top ten stay lasted just over three months.

Recent history between the two Czech left-handers and good friends will not make for good reading. Of the five times they have met overall, Kvitova has won all five of them, including four this year alone, their most recent meeting in Eastbourne last month being decided by a final set tiebreak.

With many of the big names including Serena Williams, Li Na, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and many more crashing out before the quarter-finals, there are now no excuses for Kvitova if she fails to reach the final.

The verdict: This will be Petra Kvitova’s fifth Grand Slam semi-final, but first since the 2012 French Open, while for Lucie Safarova this will be her first final four at a Grand Slam. On the basis of this stat, Kvitova should be favoured to move through.

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Prediction: Petra Kvitova in straight sets.

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