After a tournament filled with upsets, Venus Williams and Gabrine Muguruza will face off in Women’s final of the 2017 Wimbledon Open this Saturday night. The two players both overcame long odds to reach the final against quality opponents and will do battle from 11pm.
Williams will be seeking her 6th Wimbledon title to draw one closer to the seven her sister has won. A win will also be the first Grand Slam win for Venus since 2008 and make a remarkable 17 years in between her first Wimbledon victory and her most recent. The longevity of the champion is undeniable and will probably only be rivalled by her younger sister when its all said and done.
Her opponent, Gabrine Muguruza will be seeking her first Wimbledon title and her second Grand Slam crown after winning the 2016 French Open. In the Women’s game these days where it’s so hard to be consistent, Muruguza has reached the 4th round of the French Open in the past four years and will play in her second Wimbledon final here giving credence to her ranking which as one point was as high as No.2 in the world.
Muruguza succumb to Serena Williams in the final of the 2015 Wimbledon Open and will be looking for redemption here when she faces Venus. The Spaniard has opened as a $1.81 favourite to lift the trophy in a fairly even betting spread.
The evenness of the head to head markets contradict that of the total set markets. The bookies give both players a great chance but still have the match to go to three sets as an outside chance. Granted, there has only been three finals in the last 11 years that have gone to three sets but we are living in the era of Serena Williams who dominates opponents on the regular. We think this one has a good chance of going the distance.
TIP: Total sets OVER 2.5 - $2.25 at Sportsbet
The who players have had similar runs to the final in terms of strength of opponents. Williams was victorious over French Open Champions Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter final and British hope Johanna Konta in the semi. Both victories were in convincing fashion, particularly the Konta win as Williams defeated the 6th seed 6-4, 6-2.
Muruguza’a run was just as dominant. She dropped just one set to World No.1 Angelique Kerber on her way to the final before proceeding to thrash Svetlana Kuznetsova and Magdalena Rybarikova in the quarter and semi final respectively.
Really tough to pick a winner in this match, power has dominated the women’s side of the draw throughout 2017 and this tournament in particular and these are two of the most powerful hitters on tour. Venus arguably likes grass a little more, with Muruguza preferring the clay surfaces, other than that they are so evenly matched. Venus will see this as one of her final opportunities to pinch a Grand Slam however, so I can see the champion getting up for this one.
TIP: Venus Williams to win - $2 at Sportsbet
