WTA US OPEN BETTING SCHIAVONE VS. VENUS WILLIAMS IN THE QUARTERS

Ahead of the women’s quarterfinal clash between Venus Williams and Francesca Schiavone, the only question that is being tossed about is whether ‘La Lionessa’ Schiavone can beat Venus and move into her first-ever US Open semi-final. To put a finer point on it, is she a credible bet –  even though she is an outside bet and arguably, attracting less than enthusiastic support in the 2010 US Open betting markets.
Ahead of the quarterfinals, in Live In Play markets at William Hill, Venus is a 6/1 bet to win the title while Schiavone is a whopping 20/1 bet to do the same.
In terms of the upcoming match between the pair, at William Hill, Venus is trading as the 2/5 favourite while at Paddy Power she is just a smidgen shorter at 4/9. Schiavone by contrast is tipped at 7/4 by both William Hill and Paddy Power.
Venus Williams takes a clean sheet into their encounter, highlighted by seven straight wins over the Italian, including two wins this season. With such a convincing record, Venus is justifiably the favourite across the board.
Proven champion that she is, and, admittedly, a legitimate threat for the title, Venus hasn’t been at 100% at the US Open and as such, I cannot rule out the possibility of an upset here.
Unlike Venus, Schiavone has shown some solid form at the US Open. Certainly, she was completely off form in the lead up to the major but that's most likely down to the euphoria of having won a first-ever major at 29 years old when not a single pundit ever expected she would. Now that she’s through to the quarters any talk about form where she is concerned is a moot point. She's playing some beautiful tennis and with confidence.
Schiavone has never beaten Venus and that puts her at a disadvantage mentally. It has to be frustrating to lose to a player repeatedly. Recently, however, she has shown a positive trend against the American. She finally was able to take a set off her; in fact, she did so in both encounters racing to the early lead before unravelling against the American’s might in the end.
Venus was the last player to beat Schiavone before the Italian went on a sensational run at the French Open overcoming  tough players in Maria Kirilenko, Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva and Samantha Stosur to win the coveted title.
Now that Schiavone is a Grand Slam champion, you'll want to wipe the slate clean and start afresh by taking their measure from this point onwards. How about a win by Schiavone to start. It's not the popular bet but it's not exactly unthinkable either.
If you are not buying what the Italian is selling in the outright win markets, you'll find some nice returns on her in set betting markets. You have to believe that after all she's accomplished in this season, a banner season for her, she will give Venus a run for her money. Take a set off at least and push the American to a third and deciding set.