Sharapova vs Ivanovic

Comparing to previous year, Maria Sharapova is having way better start of the season this year and with some improvement in next months, she might be even pushing for the first position at WTA rankings. The Russian had a great start of the season, reaching the finals of Australian Open, but also of Indian Wells and Miami, all three tournaments at hard court of course. She played two tournaments on clay court till now and has shown that her success at clay in previous season isn’t just a one time thing. She won Stuttgart Open defeating Cornet, Stosur, Kvitova and Azarenka, losing only one set against Sam Stosur. Last week she played in Madrid and lost in quarter-finals to Serena Williams, who will probably be the best player at clay this season. Before losing to her, she won over Zakopalova and Camelia-Begu, while Safarova had to make walkover before the game. Here in Rome, Maria was better than McHale in two sets.



Ana Ivanovic, on the other side, is trying to make her way into top 10 and into the very best players in the World, but it simply isn’t that easy for her. She is playing way better than most of the previous year, but is struggling against very best players and it’s very hard for her to reach some consistent level of her game. Her biggest success was fourth round of Australian Open and semi-finals of Indian Wells (where she had to retire after being a set down to Sharapova) and there are no bigger improvements at clay court either. She lost in first round of Stuttgart to Mona Barthel in two, while she won to Johansson and Petrova in Madrid, but lost to Azarenka. Here in Madrid she was better than Kuznetsova and Soler Espinosa, both in two.



Sharapova leads h2h by 4:2, winning last three matches. Maria is having way better season than her opponent, especially in last couple of weeks spent at clay courts. Ana is trying to find her form, but it is going more difficult than she expects and the Russian is clear favorite in this match up.



Bet: Sharapova to win @1.58 with Pinnacle Sports