French Open Womens Final, Day 14: Serena Williams v Maria Sharapova Predictions

Maria Sharapova

The top two seeds, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will contest the 2013 Roland Garros final.  Serena was in utterly devastating form as she completely tore past Sara Errani in one of the most one-sided matches of the whole year.  Serena won 6-0 6-1 in just 46 minutes and hit a staggering 40 winners to 12 unforced errors; that's almost a winner per minute! Errani was flat, but she never stood any chance and will have been relieved to avoid a double bagel.  Sharapova had a far tougher match as she edged out Victoria Azarenka in a tight three setter, 6-1 2-6 6-4.  It took Sharapova several match points to seal the deal as double faults crept into her game, but she eventually got the job done to complete her best win over Vika, a first at a Grand Slam.

The head-to-head is well and truly in the favour of Serena who has 13 wins to Sharapova's 2.  They have played each other three times this year with Serena dominating in straight set wins in Doha and Madrid.  Sharapova's best effort came in Miami where she won the first set, but was crushed in the decider, losing 4-6 6-3 6-0.  Serena's form has been pretty great this week and following that test with Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals where she was 2-0 down in the decider, she has not looked back and looks well on course for the Roland Garros title, which she last won in 2002.  

What can Sharapova do to stop her? In my opinion, not much.  All of Sharapova's fighting instincts seem to go out of the window when she plays Serena and she simply cannot seem to bring her best game, or at least for a whole match.  A Sharapova win would rather astonish me although perhaps because we know Serena is really desperate for this title, she may get tight and that will be Maria's only chance to win it. Anyway my prediction is simple and straightforward... Serena and in straight sets.

Prediction - Serena Williams to beat Maria Sharapova in 2 sets