WTA Italian Open: Serena Williams VS Anna-Lena Friedsam
I have to try a little on Anna-Lena Friedsam with the six game handicap start. The pair have met once before, at Roland Garros just under 12 months ago and it was close, with Serena winning in three and the match going to 30 games. ALF had a really good read on the Williams serve that day and in a first, let alone any meeting with the best player on the planet, that is unusual. Friedsam played solidly ( very few errors) in her first round win yesterday and should strip much fresher than Williams the younger who is making her first start of the season on clay and who has not played since losing in R3 in Miami , where she is an eight time winner of what she would consider her "home town" tournament. Last year she struggled in her first european clay court start ( 32 games) and then withdrew from this tournament in R2 and despite a fine record in Rome previously, you have to feel at 34yo it doesn't get any easier to come into tournaments "cold", or to make the transition to clay from faster surfaces.
Anna-Lena Friedsam +6 games 2.08 Pinnacle Sports/Sportmarket Pro
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I have to try a little on Anna-Lena Friedsam with the six game handicap start. The pair have met once before, at Roland Garros just under 12 months ago and it was close, with Serena winning in three and the match going to 30 games. ALF had a really good read on the Williams serve that day and in a first, let alone any meeting with the best player on the planet, that is unusual. Friedsam played solidly ( very few errors) in her first round win yesterday and should strip much fresher than Williams the younger who is making her first start of the season on clay and who has not played since losing in R3 in Miami , where she is an eight time winner of what she would consider her "home town" tournament. Last year she struggled in her first european clay court start ( 32 games) and then withdrew from this tournament in R2 and despite a fine record in Rome previously, you have to feel at 34yo it doesn't get any easier to come into tournaments "cold", or to make the transition to clay from faster surfaces.
Anna-Lena Friedsam +6 games 2.08 Pinnacle Sports/Sportmarket Pro
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