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The Wimbledon women’s semi-finals get underway with Jelena Ostapenko looking to make her second grand slam final against former world No.1 Angelique Kerber. Join The Roar for live scores from 10pm (AEST).
Ostapenko, who has cemented herself in the top echelon of players on the WTA Tour this year. After her shock run to the French Open last year, she has been solid all year, although put in a very weak defence of her crown at Roland Garros.
The grass court season started similarly to the end of the clay season, but she has put in some brilliant performances at the All England Club, where she is yet to lose a set on her way to the final four.
While the first couple of wins wouldn’t have even come close to challenging Ostapenko, the last two against Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Dominika Cibulkova were against high-ranking, very strong players who should have challenged her.
Instead, she has only been to one tie breaker in those four sets, putting on some strong displays. Winning all the key moments shows exactly where her form and mental state is at heading into the final days of the biggest tennis tournament on the calendar.
Kerber will be no push over for a spot in the final though. The German knows what is takes to get it done at the back end of the tournament and while she isn’t in career-best form, her run through the middle of 2018 has been an impressive won.
A quarter-final appearance at Roland Garros has now been backed up by wins on the grass against the likes of Daria Kasatkina, Belinda Bencic and Naomi Osaka with just a single set lost across her first five matches.
Kerber’s defence is second to none and while she may not have the offensive weapons to go with Ostapenko, her pace and temperament brings her right back into the equation for this match.
Making it that much harder to tip, the pair have never faced off before this meeting.
Prediction
Ostapenko is good enough, but Kerber has the experience at this level and should advance to the Wimbledon final.
Kerber in three sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this match from 10pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.