WTA Dubai Tennis Championships: Prediction, Tips and Odds

The recent WTA 1000 event in Doha, Qatar, threw up plenty of surprises with Amanda Anisimova and Jelena Ostapenko upstaging the elite to collide in a shock final and it has been a similar tale of events at the Dubai Tennis Championships of late.

Jasmine Paolini was crowned champion last year, beating Anna Kalinskaya in three sets to claim the biggest title of her career to date, while it was Barbora Krejcikova who reigned supreme in 2023 with the scalp of Iga Swiatek.

It had been a WTA 500 event in 2022, with Ostapenko defeating Veronika Kudermetova to take the title, and world number one Aryna Sabalenka will be hoping she can buck the trend and bounce back after a poor showing in Doha.

WTA Dubai Tennis Championships betting tips and predictions

Iga Swiatek to win the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships - 4/1

Sabalenka crashed out in her opening assignment in Qatar against Ekaterina Alexandrova, a player she could meet again in round two in Dubai, so there is little incentive to be backing her as 13/5 favourite.

But the Belarusian isn’t the only one looking to improve upon an underwhelming display in Qatar as third seed Coco Gauff was also denied in her opening encounter with Marta Kostyuk and fellow seeded stars Qinwen Zheng and Emma Navarro were dumped out at the same second-round stage.

While world number two Swiatek was unable to take advantage of those early casualties, she still impressed on her way to the semi-finals and was just undone by an in-form player in Ostapenko, who was on a going day.

But the Pole had won her opening three matches in Doha against Maria Sakkari, Linda Noskova and Elena Rybakina, showing that she remains in form after her semi-final run at the Australian Open.

With her draw very much following a similar path to what it was in Doha - she again avoids Sabalenka and Gauff until the final - it is hard to see her not putting up a bold performance.

Swiatek had won three years in a row in Qatar prior to last week’s semi-final flop and that, combined with her runner-up effort here two seasons ago, shows that she comes good when conditions are playing slower than the usual hard courts.

Zheng, Rybakina and last year’s winner Paolini don’t appear in good enough touch to deny Swiatek at present and, with Ostapenko likely to be feeling the exertions of her run to the finalmin Doha, this may be her chance to right those wrongs.

Karolina Muchova to win WTA Dubai Tennis Championships - 25/1

The last five winners of this competition had made the final of a French Open, which shows the conditions play slower and that is another tick in the box of four-time Roland Garros heroine Swiatek.

However, at a bigger price, it could also be worth taking a chance on Karolina Muchova, who was runner-up to Swiatek in the 2023 French Open final.

Muchova skipped the competition in Doha, which may be no bad thing, and she was a semi-finalist in her last tournament appearance at the Linz Open at the beginning of the month.

The Czech talent was a semi-finalist in last year’s US Open too, which highlights her ability to be able to turn it on in the biggest events, and being in the top half of the draw with Sabalenka and Gauff may be the place to be.

Muchova should come through her opening test against Dutch qualifier Suzan Lamens relatively comfortably, while Sakkari and Emma Raducanu don’t look in good enough form to stop her in round two.

Gauff could await in round three but, like Sabalenka, the American has a point to prove and these conditions give Muchova every chance of causing a stir.

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WTA Dubai Tennis Championships odds

Aryna Sabalenka - 13/5
Iga Swiatek - 4/1
Coco Gauff - 11/2
Elena Rybakina - 10/1
Qinwen Zheng - 20/1
Karolina Muchova - 25/1
Belinda Bencic - 25/1
Mirra Andreeva - 28/1

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.