Wimbledon 2006 Ladies Semifinal Preview

After ten days of intense action on the grounds of SW19, the Wimbledon ladies draw has been narrowed down to just four ladies. The top four women in the world advanced to the semifinal round after steamrolling their opponents, and tomorrow’s matches will hopefully produce some of the best tennis of the tournament so far.

Semifinal 1

(2) Kim Clijsters vs. (3) Justine Henin-Hardenne
Head-to-Head: Henin-Hardenne leads 11-10

Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne have a long history of playing each other, but in the last several weeks, Justine has beaten Kim twice. I had a chance to watch parts of those matches and it almost seems as if Justine has found a way to get into Clijsters’ head and shake her confidence. Kim Clijsters is one of the hardest hitting players on the tour, but Henin-Hardenne has effectively halted Clijsters’ game and in fact, kept her from regaining the No. 1 ranking.

The only way that Clijsters will be able to stop Henin-Hardenne from steamrolling her in straight sets tomorrow is if she dominates from the beginning, attacks Henin-Hardenne’s second serve, and regains her confidence by believing that she can once again beat her long-time rival.

Semifinal 2

(1) Amelie Mauresmo vs. (4) Maria Sharapova
Head-to-Head: Mauresmo leads 2-0

The only times that Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova have faced each other before were at the WTA Tour Championships in Los Angeles. Mauresmo won at both of their meetings in 2004 & 2005, but Sharapova went on to win the title in 2004, and Mauresmo won the trophy in 2005.

Mauresmo is the current world No. 1 player, but she has never been able to reach the final of Wimbledon, although this is her fourth semifinal appearance. Her mental strength has been questionable in the past, but she has breezed through to the semifinal in only eleven sets this year. Maria Sharapova may not have the finesse game of Mauresmo, but she plays with such raw power that she could blast Mauresmo right off the court. She won the title on Centre Court two years ago, and Sharapova would probably love to shut up her critics and prove that she can continue to defeat the older and more experienced players on tour. Her confidence level is much higher than Mauresmo and if the match goes into three sets, I think Sharapova will emerge with a spot in the final.

Your turn: Who do you think will be in the final on Saturday?

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