The argument could be made that Serena Williams is the most dominant tennis player in the history of the WTA. She's on the verge of her seventh Australian Open title and her 21st Grand Slam championship overall. The only woman left standing in her way of that feat is the No. 7 ranked player at the Aussie Open, Angelique Kerber.
Tennis Odds at BookMaker.eu
Serena Williams -700
Angelique Kerber +525
ODDS ANALYSIS
Williams has been a massive favorite every step of the way in the Australian Open, though it should be noted that she's a bigger favorite here in the final than she was in either the semifinals or the quarterfinals. Maria Sharapova, in fact, was her biggest foe in the quarters, and for that match, she went off as a -410 favorite.
Here in the final against Kerber, Williams is a -700 choice, while the German is lined at +525.
This isn't nearly the first time that Kerber has been an underdog at the Aussie Open, though. She was a big underdog to No. 14 Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals, a match she ended up winning in straight sets in spite of the fact that she was the pup in live betting all the way through the point that she broke serve for the first time in the second set.
HEAD TO HEAD HISTORY
Kerber's history against Williams hasn't been anything to write home about. The two have met six times in the past with Williams winning five of the six. All six duels have been contested on hard courts, as is the case at the Australian Open.
Most recently, Williams won 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 against Kerber in the Stanford Open in 2014. That year, she also won in the quarterfinals of the Miami Masters 6-2, 6-2.
Kerber's victory came in 2012 at the Cincinnati Masters, as she won 6-4, 6-4. Those are the only two sets she's ever won against Williams in her career though, and she's only gotten to one tiebreaker.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Kerber really hasn't done anything particularly spectacular here in the Australian Open statistically speaking. She's averaged just 24.5 winners per match against 19.2 unforced errors, a ratio which must be a lot better than that against Williams if she wants to have a fighting chance.
Where Kerber has really excelled is on her second serve, winning over 62 percent of her chances after faulting. Of course, she's had far too many first serves not get in, failing to reach 60 percent in three of her last four matches, and she's asking for big trouble from that standpoint.
Williams has yet to drop a set at the Australian Open, and she hasn't lost more than four games in a set since the opening round. In fact, Williams' last five foes combined have won 16 games, a truly remarkable run.
Since a bad first couple games against Sharapova, Williams has a stunning 70 winners against 33 unforced errors, and she's got 21 aces along the way as well. If that's the way she's going to play here against Kerber, this match is going to be yet another short one. You hate to lay -700 all that often, especially in women's tennis when anything can and frequently does happen, but Williams isn't losing in this spot on a court where she'll have a huge edge with the crowd on her side as well.
Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2
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