Serena Williams is now, more than before, the woman to beat at the 2019 Australian Open.
However, after her fourth round defeat of No. 1 seed Simona Halep, many challenges still remain for the 37-year-old in her quest to win her eight career Australian Open title and her record-tying 24th major singles title.
In the quarterfinals, Williams will face the hard-serving and powerful No. 7 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. One thing that Pliskova has over Williams is the belief that she defeat Williams at a Grand Slam event. Why? Because she has done it before, beating Williams 6-2, 7-6 in the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 2016. To boot, Pliskova is playing some of her best tennis and is under the guidance of coach Conchita Martinez, who help guide Garbine Muguruza to the Wimbledon title in 2017, as well as the charismatic tennis commentator and former doubles great Rennae Stubbs of Australia.
A potential match of the highly controversial U.S. Open final between Williams and Noami Osaka could materialize in the semifinals Down Under. The 2019 Australian Open is the first event for Williams since that much discussed loss to the up-and-coming Osaka. Observers feel like Williams has been internally using the controversy of the U.S Open final, where she was given a game penalty late in the match by chair umpire Carlos Ramos that may have altered the result of the match, where history hung in the balance.
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic is the heavy favorite to emerge from the bottom half of the draw. Curiously, Williams has not beaten Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, since 2013! Kvitova beat Williams 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in the second round of Cincinnati last summer as well as in the semifinals of Madrid in 2015 by a 6-2, 6-3 margin in their last two meetings.
Williams is making her 18th appearance at Australian Open. In addition to her Open Era record seven titles in Melbourne (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009-10, 2015, 2017), Williams was also runner-up in 2017 to Angelique Kerber, which was also the last time she lost at the Australian Open. She won the title, while pregnant in 2017 and skipped last year recovering from child birth. Entering the tournament, Williams has played and won more matches (81-10 record) than any other woman in Australian Open history. Her appearance in the Australian Open field marks her 70th Grand Slam appearance – third on the Open Era list, behind sister Venus Williams (81) and American Amy Frazier (71). All these stats – mixed with her extra motivation – makes Williams a top tennis betting choice to win the title.
