Victoria Azarenka

The first of the womens semi-finals is likely to the most hotly contested as Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova will play each other first time in 2013.  Sharapova had the toughest quarter-final as she was dropped a first set bagel by Jelena Jankovic before reigning in the large tally of unforced errors to book her place in the last four with a 0-6 6-4 6-3 win.  It was a great effort from Jankovic, who should have built a healthy reserve of confidence for the grass court season where she has never done particularly well.  Azarenka had to overcome a tough opening set with Maria Kirilenko that took 76 minutes before easing through the second set to post a 7-6 6-2(3) win.

Azarenka leads the head-to-head by 7 wins to 5, but lost their lost encounter at the YEC in Istanbul, 6-4 6-2.  Sharapova beat Azarenka twice in 2012 although both of those wins were when Vika was not at 100%.  Their matches are always a little bit fiesty because there is no doubt that they are not very friendly with each other.  Although I went for Sharapova to make the final, in this match-up I really do favour Vika.  She has more variety to her game, particularly if the A-game is not working and can get Sharapova on the run.  I think it will be a tight match, three sets and an Azarenka win.

Prediction – Azarenka to beat Sharapova in 3 sets

2. Serena Williams v Sara Errani

Serena Williams

Serena Williams lost her first set of the tournament to Svetlana Kuznetsova and was a point away from a double break deficit in the decider of her quarter-final match before finding the magic to win, 6-1 3-6 6-3.  It was a great effort from Sveta, who I thought would be the biggest test for Serena throughout her draw at RG.  Serena now takes on Sara Errani, who edged a very tight two setter with Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4 7-6(6).  Errani has done remarkably well to make the semi-finals and recover a large chunk of her ranking points.  Unfortunately I do not see Sara having many chances against Serena although their most recent match in Madrid did involve a tight opening set before Serena strolled through the second to post a 7-5 6-2 win.  Particularly after yesterday’s test against Kuznetsova, Serena looks well on course for her second Roland Garros title…