Monday morning marks the beginning of the second week for Wimbledon's Ladies' tennis draw. Many of the top seeds are still around and alive in the tournament, but there have been some shake-ups. In the 125th edition of this great tennis tournament, many tennis fans are pulling for the obvious must-see final: Serena and Venus Williams. Unlike men's tennis, where the Top 5 players ranked in the world are by far the five best players, women's tennis is a bit different. Both Serena and Venus williams were tabbed by many to be serious contenders at Wimbledon these two weeks. However, neither one of them is ranked anywhere close to the Top 5. In fact, Serena, the highest ranked of the sisters, is currently 25th while Venus sits at 30th in the world. Hard to believe as each of these two tennis greats have muscled their way through the first three rounds at the All England Club and only look better to advance into the quarterfinals and beyond.

The sisters have played in four Wimbledon finals against each other and have nine Wimbledon titles between them. Since 2000, only Maria Sharapova in 2004 and Amelie Mauresmo in 2006 have won at Wimbledon. The other nine years saw the Williams' sisters claim the title. To say they've had a good run at the All England Club would be correct.

Sharapova was tabbed before the tournament started as the odds-on favorite to win at 4/1. Both the Williams sisters were also considered as Serena was given 4.5/1 odds and Venus opened at 8/1. Something tells me that one of these three women will win the tournament as all three are playing very well and haven't seemed to miss a beat. Na Li, who was ranked in the Top 5 in the world, suffered a disappointing loss in the second round of the tournament to upstart, serve-bombing Sabine Lisicki. Li had been tabbed as one of the five or six women who had a chance to win Wimbledon this year but the upset cut her tournament short.

Of the eight matches scheduled to take place on Monday, five of them are between ranked players. Oddly enough, there are only three players left that were seeded sixth or higher to open the tournament. The world's No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki will have a tough matchup against 24th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova. Cibulkova has just a 2-5 recod against Wozniacki in their head-to-head matchups but they are 1-1 against each other this year.

Caroline Wozniacki (1) vs. Dominika Cibulkova

Wozniacki -400, Cibulkova +320 (Wozniacki has an 80% chance to win the match)

Wozniacki is the No. 1 player in the world but this won't be an easy match. The two have had an extensive past with seven matches to their credit. Wozniacki has won five of those matches. Many doubted her ability to go deep here at Wimbledon, but she has won all three matches in straight sets and hasn't been tested yet. Cibulkova has gone to three sets twice already but did knock off higher seed opponent Julia Goerges last round. This could be a close match, but I think the No. 1 player will come away with a win.
Pick: Wozniacki in three sets.

Victoria Azarenka (4) vs. Nadia Petrova

Azarenka -310, Petrova +250 (Azarenka has a 75.6% chance to win the match)

Could be an interesting one here. Azarenka is one of six single digit seeds left in the tournament and she is coming off a three-set victory over Daniela Hantuchova, the 25th seeded player. Petrova isn't seeded but has dominated the competition so far, including a ranked opponent. She has played better than Azarenka, in my opinion, and the two players have split four maches (2-2) in their careers against each other. I think Petrova picks up the win here as a nice dog.
Pick: Petrova in three sets.

Serena Williams (7) vs. Marion Bartoli (9)

Williams -375, Bartoli +305 (Williams has a 78.9% chance to win the match)

This will be Serena's toughest opponent so far, but Serena has dominated Bartoli, winning four sets to love against her in their careers. Williams looks to be closer to 100% than she has in previous events and I think she is going to make it to the semifinals. Bartoli has had back-to-back close matches that were extremely tough and tiring. Williams, on the other hand, plays better than longer the match goes and seemingly the more tired she gets. I think this is a fair price for this match as Williams wins in straight sets.
Pick: Williams.

Maria Sharapova (5) vs. Peng Shuai (20)

Sharapova -435, Shuai +335 (Sharapova has an 81% chance to win the match)

Sharapova has come back from injury to play extremely well this time around at Wimbledon. She has been serving well and has had great control of her backhand up to this point. Moving opponents from side-to-side on the court has done well for the 2004 Champion. Her opponent, Peng Shuai, has won nearly 40 matches this season and could be the next star on the WTA tour. She has had some pretty decent matches so far and has earned her spot here in the fourth round. However, Sharapova holds a 2-1 lifetime advantage in this matchup and I think she is once again too much.
Pick: Sharapova in straight sets.

Petra Kvitova (8) vs. Yanina Wickmayer (19)

Kvitova -310, Wickmayer +250 (Kvitova has a 75.61% chance to win the match)

Kvitova has had geat success this year, winning nearly 40 matches and dropping only 8. A good year for a good player, so far. Wickmayer continues to shoot up the rankings' charts and has been battle tested in this tournament so far. Each player has three wins against the other in their careers but Kvitova has won three times this year. They have never faced at Wimbledon. Kvitova is just playing too strong, I think, and is the better player.
Pick: Kvitova in three sets.

Venus Williams (23) vs. Tsvetana Pironkova (32)

Williams -240, Pironkova +190 (Williams has a 70.58% chance to win the match)

There's a reason this line is low, even though Venus has a legitimate shot at winning the entire tournament. Pironkova has beaten Venus twice in three career matches. Last year she ousted Venus in the quarters at Wimbledon. This year that are meeting a round earlier and I'm convinced Venus is the better player RIGHT NOW. Pironkova has done a nice job getting to the fourth round here but she's still 11-matches under the .500 mark so far this year, so she isn't playing her best. Venus has done a good job this tournament and I fully expect her to get this match in three sets.
Pick: Williams in three sets.

Sabine Lisicki vs. Petra Cetkovska

Lisicki -410, Cetkovska +335 (Lisicki has an 80.39% chance to win the match)

Pick: Lisicki in straight sets.

Tamira Paszek vs. Ksenia Pervak

Paszek -140, Pervak +110 (Paszek has a 58% chance to win the match)

Pick: Pervak in three sets.

Comments. . .

What are your thoughts on Monday's Wimbledon action?