Wimbledon 2019 Preview – 11.00 am
America’s Alison Riske came up with a stunning performance in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday as she knocked out world number one Ashleigh Barty. Riske defied some pretty big odds in that fixtures, yet she prevailed. Next up for her is another titanic match as she tries to deal with Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.
Alison Riske v Serena Williams Odds*
Serena Williams 1/4
Alison Riske 3/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 8th, 2019 at 10:17 pm)
Will Alison Riske knock Serena Williams out of Wimbledon?
After one and a half hours on court, American Alison Riske had fought back from having lost the opening set against World Number One Ashleigh Barty to win. That victory put her through to her first ever Grand Slam quarter final. Prior to that defeat at the hands of Barty, this year’s French Open champion hadn’t dropped a set in the tournament. So what’s next for 29-year-old Rikse? Can she knock Serena Williams out of the competition as well?
That would end up being some campaign from her. Riske is better on grass than any other surface. But this has been a long Wimbledon for her. All four of her matches have been over three sets. That started against Donna Vekic in the first round, before she settled her tie against Ivana Jorovic with a 9-7 victory in the final set. Then she knocked off Belinda Bencic before Barty, making it three of the top 32 seeds that Rikse has eliminated. This match is at 15/8 to go to three sets* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 8th, 2019 at 10:17 pm)
Head to Head
This will be the first meeting between the two players
Will Serena Williams march on to another Wimbledon semi-final?
The progress of Serena Williams through the Championship so far has been pretty serene. She has dropped just one set, which was the opener against Kaja Juvan in the second round. Really since the second round, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the movement and strokes of Williams. She has gotten better and better. After getting the better of Julia Goerges in the third round, Williams then dispatched Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-2 in the fourth round.
Williams is a seven-time Wimbledon winner, the most recent of those titles happening in 2016. She did reach last year’s final at SW19 but was taken down by Angelique Kerber. Williams is looking for her first Grand Slam title since the 2017 Australian Open. There has to be some ominous signs for Riske here in that Williams is starting to move up through the gears.
Predictions
Riske has had a pretty enthralling Wimbledon campaign. It’s been an exciting roller coaster of a ride from her and she has dug out some wonderful victories in stressful situations. But this is a whole different kettle of fish. Serena is moving well now and likely to blast her way to another success. Serena Williams 2-0 in set betting is at 4/6 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 8th, 2019 at 10:17 pm)
