Australian Open Betting / Ben Caudell / 27 January 2010 /

Serena Williams came perilously close to an Australian Cup exit against Victoria Azarenka and there are signs that Na Li could also give the champ trouble. Ben Caudell has the pick of the odds ahead of their Australian Open semi-final

Serena Williams (USA) v Na Li (CHI)
Serena Williams was a lost tie-break away from losing her match with Victoria Azarenka on Wednesday but produced an outstanding display of guts and determination to put herself back on track for back-to-back Australian Open titles. Serena clearly loves Melbourne, winning four Australian Open titles, but has only taken the title in odd years - 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 - so can she break this habit and win this year's title?
First, she will have to oust one of two Chinese players left in the women's field, Na Li who defeated Serena's sister Venus in the quarter-finals is appearing in her first ever Grand Slam semi. She has already knocked out Daniela Hantuchova, Caroline Wozniacki and Venus en route and is currently 9-1 in Grand Slam matches having reached the US Open quarter-finals last year.
Serena leads the head-to-head series 3-1, and with three of the four matches being won in three sets, Na Li has nothing to lose and everything to gain. She obviously has the style of play that Serena finds hard to get to grips with, and if the Chinese number one frustrates Serena into making too many unforced errors we could have a game on our hands.
A win for Serena for me, but too short to be backing pre-match

Selection: Back Li +5.5 Games @ [1.8]
Back over 19.5 Games @ [2.0]
Lay Serena Williams 2-0 @ [1.65]

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