2018 Wimbledon Women’s Semifinals Betting Preview

On Thursday, the 2018 Wimbledon Women’s Semifinals will take place. Serena Williams faces Julia Goerges and Serena Williams square off in the first semifinal, and then Angelique Kerber and Jelena Ostapenko round out the other semifinal. Williams needed three sets to get past Camila Giorgi in the quarterfinal, losing 3-6 but then winning 6-3, 6-4. Goerges also needed three sets to beat Kiki Bertens but advanced, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. Kerber beat Daria Kasatkina, 6-3, 7-5, in their quarterfinal, and Ostapenko took down Dominika Cibulkova, 7-5, 6-4. We have tennis betting insights for each of these two semifinal matches. Williams and Goerges will meet at 8:00am Eastern time on Thursday, on ESPN or the WatchESPN app.

2018 Wimbledon Women’s Semifinal Betting Preview

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Serena Williams vs Julia Goerges

Serena Williams got everything she could handle from Camila Giorgi, who brought her best serve and groundstroke game but couldn’t dislodge Williams, who was able to reverse course and control the second and third sets. Williams has also beaten Goerges already this year, taking her down at the French Open. In her win over Giorgi, Williams converted 71 percent of her first serves and rolled up seven aces. That powerful first serve will keep opponents at bay. It’s true that Goerges also has a dynamite serve, which she used to take down Bertens. However, this will be the third time that Williams and Goerges have faced off, with Williams winning both times. Goerges does ride in with the momentum of having finally escaped the first round of Wimbledon — where she had lost five in a row. If you like Goerges, you see her coming out and using that big serve to shake Serena and work her way to a break or two in the first set. That’s when Serena is usually at her most vulnerable, when the match is in its early moments. As soon as she locks in and finds her form, it is difficult to knock Serena off her game, as opponent after opponent has learned. If you like Williams, you see her perhaps giving a little ground at the beginning but then locking things down, as she did against Giorgi. 2018 Wimbledon Women’s Semifinal Betting Prediction: Williams wins in three sets

Angelique Kerber vs Jelena Ostapenko

Despite the fact that both Kerber and Ostapenko won in straight sets, neither win was as easy as the score indicated. Ostapenko had 33 winners — but she also committed 28 unforced errors. Kerber already has a Grand Slam title under her belt, so she understands how the pressure ramps up with each round and has learned how to deal with it. Ostapenko has a Grand Slam title as well, but she doesn’t have quite the experience that Kerber does.  Ostapenko’s title came at the French Open, which is a different surface from Wimbledon. Kerber converted 63% of her first serve points and 33% of her second serve points, and she did a better job controlling the ball, with just 19 unforced errors. However, Ostapenko has won 14 of 16 sets since she started her French Open run. If you like Kerber, you see experience trumping power, as Kerber can manage her game and minimize her mistakes — key traits in a Slam champion. However, if you like Ostapenko, you see power winning — which means you think she can reduce the number of errors while keeping her number of winners high. Ostapenko is on a roll right now, and the hot hand can pay off when you’re looking at tennis. I think Kerber will push Ostapenko more than Ostapenko got pushed in the quarterfinals, but I also see Ostapenko using the same firepower she used at Roland Garros and earlier in this tournament to get to the finals on Saturday against Williams. 2018 Wimbledon Women’s Semifinal Betting Prediction: Ostapenko wins in three sets