Serena Williams v Venus Williams Ladies Wimbledon Finals 2009 Tips

Ladies Wimbledon Finals 2009 Tips

An all-American final in England on Independence Day.

For those that don't know, the 4th of July is Independence Day in the USA, the anniversary of American freedom from Britain. Patriotism should be running high as two Americans, the Williams sisters, collide in a match that will break a 10-10 head to head tie between the two siblings. The match is a total 'coin toss' although the odds favor Venus as the champion.
The knock against Serena that a lot of people will likely have is that she came a net court away from losing in the semis against Elena Dementieva. In a point that might haunt the Russian forever, she appeared to have a sideline shot open on match point but instead elected to go for the cross-court winner. Unfortunately, Serena anticipated it and volleyed Elena's bid for the finals into the open court for a net-clipping winner.

The reason Serena had so much trouble against Dementieva isn't because Serena 'struggled' but because Dementieva is simply that good. She's the only player in the world, besides Kuznetsova and maybe Azarenka, that doesn't look like a girl when on the same court as Venus or Serena. You can tell just by looking at Dementieva that she puts time and effort into the weight room that a lot of other players don't put in and that is what gives her a chance to win matches that few other players even stand a chance in.

In a way you have to feel for Dementieva, but in a more accurate way you have to know she lost a fair and square match against a marginally better opponent.

The point to take from all that is that if Venus Williams had played Dementieva in the semis and not Safina, then Venus would have probably had just as tough a time winning the match as Serena did and a close semifinal shouldn't be a knock against her.

There isn't much of a tip to provide here: Venus and Serena are evenly matched and neither has shown any weakness on the grass court this year (or in past years).

Our recommendation is to pick Serena at bet365 where she is a slight underdog at +110. The reason for that pick is that in 'coin toss' situations, you're better off going with the better price in the long run than the worse price.

Note: bet365 are streaming the Women's Final live online for free. Full details at bet365 > live streaming