WTA Indian Wells semi-finals
Swiatek – Kostyuk: 16.03.2024 00:00 CEST
H2H: 1-0
Iga Swiatek is playing her best tennis yet again! The best player in the world has had an easy tournament thus far. Iga won all the matches in straight sets and showed that she is the biggest favorite to win it all in Indian Wells. In her last match against Wozniacki, Iga struggled a little bit in the first set, but managed to win it 6-4. Wozniacki unfortunately had to retire mid-match! We could say that this was her worst set so far, but Iga managed to win the set anyway!
Her opponent, Kostyuk, also won all of her matches in straight sets. In her last match, Kostyuk played amazing tennis in the first set against Potapova. She had many free points on her serve and managed to break the serve easily. In the second set, Potapova showed many weaknesses as she was on the verge of losing the set. Kostyuk still did not face any top 20 players. Even though she is playing well, we believe that she still does not have her biggest challenge. We believe that Swiatek will just be too good for her. If Swiatek stays loose and gets her forehand going, Kostyuk will probably have big problems! All being said, Swiatek to cover the games handicap spread is a value bet, and you should go for it!
Value bet/ the best odds: Swiatek -6.5 games handicap @1.91 @bet365
Gauff – Sakkari: 16.03.2024 02:00 CEST
H2H: 3-4
Coco Gauff had a great tournament apart from her first match thus far. It is amazing that she is still only 20 years old! Coco had some problems in the second round where she almost lost to Burel. We believe that it was the pressure playing in front of her own crowd. After that match, Gauff picked up her level and dominated through every single match. It will be interesting to see her play against Sakkari if she stays calm like she did in the previous rounds. In her last match against Yuan, Gauff really suffered on her serve as she made 17 double faults.
Any better player will make you pay for that! She was lucky that Yuan played poorly in this match. Her opponent, Sakkari, won against Navarro in three sets as we predicted! Sakkari had to fight for every match she won! Sakkari was an underdog in her last match. She lost the first set 5-7. In the second set, Sakkari played almost a perfect set! The third set was then a mental battle where Sakkari stayed strong and calm! We saw once again why Sakkari is a top 10 player and that you should never underestimate her.
She had enough time now to rest for this match against Gauff. Bookies are underestimating Sakkari yet again! We believe that Gauff might be a slight favorite in this match, but they are considering Gauff to be a heavy favorite, and we just can not agree with that statement. All being said, Sakkari to cover games handicap is a value bet, and you should go for it!
Value bet/ the best odds: Sakkari +4.5 games handicap @1.80 @bet365
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
