It is getting serious at this year's Australian Open with both singles events down to the last four, and on Thursday Madison Keys squares up against Iga Swiatek in the second women's semifinal.
American Keys was made to work for her win in the quarterfinals, battling back from a set down to defeat 28th seed Elina Svitolina 3-6 6-3 6-4.
As for Swiatek, the Polish second seed enjoyed a more straightforward matchup, dispatching Emma Navarro 6-1 6-2 in her quarterfinal.
The pair will now clash racquets at the Rod Laver Arena for a place in the final of the Women's Australian Open, with neither player having previously progressed beyond the last four in Melbourne.
The Australian Open and Iga Swiatek have not always seen eye to eye but the Polish ace is enjoying one of her best ever campaigns Down Under this month.
Swiatek has five Grand Slam titles to her name but four of them have come on the clay courts at the French Open.
She did win the US Open on hard courts in 2022 but she has never before progressed beyond the semifinals in Melbourne.
It was in 2022 that Swiatek last reached this stage of the major, losing in straight sets to Danielle Collins.
But she continues to grow on the WTA Tour and under the stewardship of new coach Wim Fissette, she looks more ruthless than ever.
Swiatek has cruised through to the last four in Melbourne, dropping just 14 games en route - only three players in the Open Era have dropped fewer on their way to the semifinals.
Half of those games dropped came in her opener against Katerina Siniakova and Swiatek has won all five of her matches at this year's Australian Open in straight sets.
Most concerning of all for her semifinal opponent Keys is the fact that Swiatek seems to be getting better, having wrapped up the first set against quarterfinal opponent Navarro in just 36 minutes.
It will take a serious force to stop her and 19th seed Keys may just not fit the bill.
She has performed brilliantly to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the third time in her career but she has dropped sets in three of her five matches.
And in her quarterfinal win over Svitolina, she had to recover from defeat in the first set.
She simply cannot make the same mistakes against Swiatek, who is a value pick to win this match 2-0 and make the final.
Thinking along similar lines to the first bet, Swiatek is worth backing at -5.5 on the games handicap.
Not only has the Pole been winning matches comfortably, but she has been prevailing in individual sets with ease.
Indeed, since her first-round win over Siniakova, Swiatek has gone on to win the game count 12-2, 12-1,12-1 and 12-3 in her subsequent four matches.
That run included games against the aforementioned Navarro and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
She has not dropped a single game on serve in any of her last four matches and that power from the baseline should serve her well, so expect her to cover the handicap against American Keys.
If punters anticipate a thrashing from Swiatek, then this wager could also appeal.
A bet on under 19.5 games would have won in all five of Swiatek's matches at this year's Australian Open, including that opener against Siniakova when Swiatek was warming up to the tournament.
There is no denying that Keys is in fine form but Swiatek leads the head-to-head with her American counterpart 4-1 and won both meetings in 2024 by 6-1 6-3 scorelines, meaning they also produced 19 games or fewer.
Madison Keys | +400 |
Iga Swiatek | -600 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.