Well, a Maria Sharapova v Samantha Stosur WTA Rome tennis final betting opportunity is a bit of surprise. There is more to the story than meets the eye though, so we’ll investigate and see where our WTA Rome tennis final betting should go. Firstly, Australia’s Sam Stosur made a welcome return to a WTA final. She hasn’t looked totally on top of her game to be truthful for the most part of the year. She has not been in a final since losing to Francesca Schiavone at last year’s French Open. It has been a long barren spell for the Aussie, but now has a realistic chance at some silverware. She goes against Sharapova, and Stosur will need to overcome a bad head to head record against the Russian if she is going to prevail. Probably the most impressive thing about Stosur in this tournament, is that she has visibly been growing in confidence, and having a lot more trust in her shot selection. It is arguable that she is still not as ruthless as she should be, be she doe epitomise hard work, grit and determination out on the court. She wasted a lot of chances to wrap up the first set in her semi final against the big hitting Li Na, but she found her rhythm in the second, blitzing her way to a 7-6 6-0 victory. One has to now wonder about a couple of things ahead of your Maria Sharapova v Sam Stosur tennis betting, and that is the mental pressure on Stosur. She wasn’t quite the same after losing at the French Open last year, and she admitted that she struggled mentally. It has been such a long wait for her to get back to a final now, will the pressure tell? It may get a bit overwhelming for her in her desire to land a Tour title, and it is not going to be easy against Sharapova.
That will either be the case, or Stosur will be fired up, and ready to take her long awaited chance at Silverware. Truthfully, you would probably lean slightly towards the prior scenario happening, because Sharapova does look the sharper of the two at the moment. While Stosur is dogged, and a pretty good mover on the crushed brick, Sharapova looked very, very good in her semi final victory over Caroline Wozniacki. Sharapova was simply in inspired form, hitting winners from all areas of the court. The normally impenetrable defence of Wozniacki just could not live with the variety and power that Sharapova was throwing at her. It was a bit of a turn up for the books, but Sharapova has been playing well over the past twelve months or so, picking up titles and gaining more and more experience. It does seem like Sharapova has been around forever, but she is still only 24, and she produced the craft and guile to beat out the 20 year old World Number One. That would immediately indicate which way to go for your Sharapova v Stosur WTA Rome final tennis betting odds. Sharapova definitely starts as the favourite, and it is hard not to back her really. The amount of winners, and they were winners that were too good for the best defensive player in the world at the moment, that Sharapova hit in her semi final, was completely devastating. Truly a top performance. Will she able to produce it again though? Why not? She is full of that all important factor, confidence.
No, Sharapova is not the strongest player on clay. She’s not, but she looks more than competent enough. You can see the impetus in the match coming from her, because she has the greater shot selection and finesse than Stosur. However, Stosur is probably a bit better on clay than Sharapova, and her run to the final at Roland Garros last year proved that. Stosur also fired off an 20-3 match record on clay last year, so is no pushover on the red stuff. Stosur has made steady progress through the WTA Rome event, beating Schiavone, Polona Hercog and Iveta Benesova, as well as Na Li. That is a pretty mixed bag of opponents that Stosur has overcome, showing good versatility to her game. The ease of the demolition job in the semi final against Na Li may raise a few eyebrows. Maybe she is ready. As for Maria Sharapova, her progress was aided by the fact that one of the tournament favourites Victoria Azarenka (who is hot form at the moment) had to retire from their quarter final match. Sharapova was a set down, but had broken early in the second when Azarenka withdrew because of an elbow injury. Tough call on this one really, but if Sharapova gets out of the gates early on, then she will take some beating. One of the big factors about Sharapova’s game, is that you simply won’t find a tougher battler in the game. Her ability to dig deep when things are going against her is remarkably impressive. You can find positive to back Stosur here, but Sharapova, although not great on clay, you would back. Sharapova also holds a 7-0 head to head record against Stosur, however, they have never met on clay before.
Maria Sharapova v Sam Stosur WTA Rome Final Tennis Betting Odds
