Victoria Azarenka v Maria Sharapova Australian Open Final tennis betting odds

Will Sharapova Grand Slam final experience count?

Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova © GEPA pictures

Victoria Azarenka v Maria Sharapova Australian Open Final tennis betting brings the potential of a highly competitive and close match. Young Belarusian Azarenka has been in superb form over the past few months, and after knocking on the door of Grand Slam finals last year, final crossed the threshold with a semi final win over Kim Clijsters. Azarenka had to play the partisan crowd at Melbourne Park, who were all behind Kim Clijsters in her final Australian Open, but it was Azarenka who showed some great early composure and dictated the game from early on. Azarenka is full of power and she has harnessed her aggression and passion into pretty much a complete package. It is not often that you see Kim Clijsters being bossed around on the court, but that is what Azarenka did in the first set. Clijsters punched back hard in the second set, taking it 6-1, but the new model of Victoria Azarenka, showed a tremendous amount of maturity to not crumble and struck back in the final set, taking it 6-3. That was a strong mental effort from Azarenka, matching her incredible power. She is one of the hardest hitters in the women’s game, and had incredible driving power in her backhands. When she gets behind them she looks unstoppable and she also had developed a very, very strong service game. So now the win over Clijsters, which sets up Victoria Azarenka v Maria Sharapova Australian Open Final tennis betting, was the biggest of her career and there could be more to come. Azarenka will go into the final as favourite, just edging things over Maria Sharapova. Not only is the Grand Slam title on the line here, the world number one spot is too. The winner will overtake Caroline Wozniacki at the top of the WTA rankings after the Australian Open.

While this is the first Grand Slam final for Victoria Azarenka, Russian Maria Sharapova has been here before. The young Russian (hard to believe that she is still only 25) has three career Grand Slam titles to her name. The only title she is missing is the French Open, and so as a previous winner of the Australian Open (in 2008) Sharapova has the big match experience. This is actually her third final at Melbourne Park, with one win and one defeat. That Grand Slam final experience really will count for a lot and it will be an advantage on her side of the court. There really is no substitute for having been there and done it all before. But there is not only that in Maria Sharapova’s game at the moment, she has been playing some incredibly consistent tennis throughout the rounds at Melbourne Park. She got her revenge over Petra Kvitova in the semi final, the player who had beaten her in the final of Wimbledon last season. Sharapova blitzed out a 6-2 lead taking the first set, but Czech star Kvitova hit back to take the second. We have said it before and will say it again, there is no tougher competitor in women’s tennis than Maria Sharapova. Forget all the glitz and glamour that surrounds the Russian queen, she is a tough, tough player. There is never a sign of her giving up, and is one of the best in the market when her back is against the wall, or she is playing against the odds. She epitomised her tough mental and physical prowess as she battled her way to victory in the third set, taking a close encounter 6-4 to reach the final. That is what makes Sharapova, who is well on top of her game and looking so confident, such a dangerous opponent. Because of all the hype and power surrounding the rise of one of our favourites, Victoria Azarenka, don’t think for a moment that Sharapova is not going to have a big say in the final. She is slight underdog, but will have her chance.

In the Head to head, it is evenly matched, with both players having won three matches against the other. They met twice last year, with Azarenka taking a win on the hard court in Miami and the Sharapova bouncing back with a win on clay in Rome. Really nothing much to chose between these on paper.

Victoria Azarenka v Maria Sharapova Australian Open Final tennis betting odds
Victoria Azarenka to win: 4/5 at Bet365
Maria Sharapova: 11/1 at SkyBet

This is it now, down to the wire for the Australian Open tennis final betting. Victoria Azarenka v Maria Sharapova betting. Online bookmaker Paddy Power have a tennis betting promotion running for the event. Place an in-running bet on the match winner, and if your bet loses, but the final point of the match is an Ace, then you will get your lost stake refunded. Remember, this applies to live in play betting only, and if your match selection there loses, you will get your lost stake refunded. Highly popular bookie Paddy Power offers a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account. The bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new account with a free bet, up to the maximum value of £50.