Wimbledon women's semi-finals betting previews & tips

Day ten
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S Williams v Strycova

Serena Williams lost her first Wimbledon semi-final, going down 6-2 7-6 to her sister Venus at the 2000 Championships, but she has won her last ten and should have too much power and knowhow for Barbora Strycova.

Winning an eighth Wimbledon title would be a fantastic effort for Serena, who celebrated the most recent of her 23 Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open in 2017.

But arguably the story of the Championships has been 33-year-old Strycova, who is the oldest first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist of the Open era.

Strycova showed some encouraging signs with a run to the semi-finals at Birmingham but was available at pre-tournament odds of 250-1.

She defied low expectations with a series of impressive performances, including a 7-6 6-1 quarter-final success over Johanna Konta, who looked out of sorts and racked up 33 unforced errors.

Similar gifts are unlikely to be forthcoming from her semi-final opponent, who is getting better with every match.

Williams has had problems with injury and illness this year, limiting her to just 14 matches and five tournaments in the first half of 2019.

She was never likely to be at her best from the start and showed plenty of ring-rust during her 6-2 7-5 first-round success over Italian qualifier Giulia Gatto-Monticone.

But her fitness and ball-striking has got better with every game and needed to be at a high level when she defeated Alison Riske 6-4 4-6 6-3 in the quarter-finals.

She will have to be mindful of the serving quality of Strycova, which has underpinned the Czech's run to the last four.

Strycova has won 73 per cent of first-serve points, higher than any of the other semi-finalists, but her greatest strength will be severely tested by Serena, who has honed her return game in mixed doubles matches alongside Andy Murray.

Serena has had a lot of fun in the doubles but her number one priority is to bag another singles crown.

Her previous three meetings against Strycova have all been won in straights sets and that pattern looks set to continue.

Recommendation
S Williams to win 2-0
1pt 8-11 general

Click here to back Williams 2-0 with Paddy Power

Svitolina v Halep

Elina Svitolina has made a lot of progress over the last two years and can achieve a major breakthrough by defeating Simona Halep in their Wimbledon semi-final.

Experience favours Halep, who has contested five Grand Slam semi-finals, winning three of them.

Svitolina is through to the last four of a Grand Slam for the first time but should have the temperament to succeed.

The Ukrainian showed a cool head when winning the 2018 WTA Tour finals last October and can take confidence from having won four of her seven meetings with Halep, including three out of the last four.

Halep has spoken of being more at home on the grass than at any stage of her career but has had some luck with the draw.

The Romanian has not had to face any seeded players and was well below her best when scrambling to a 6-3 4-6 6-2 success over compatriot Mihaela Buzarnescu in the second round.

She has stepped it up since then and coped very well when defeating 15-year-old sensation Cori Gauff 6-3 6-3 in the last 16.

However, Svitolina is by far the toughest opponent Halep has had to face and the Romanian's status as a warm odds-on favourite looks worth challenging.

Recommendation
E Svitolina
1pt 19-10 Coral, Ladbrokes

Click here to back Svitolina with bet365

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