The Tour is making its way through the Middle East with a number of stops and that does mean some of the tournaments of next week are beginning on Sunday. The WTA Doha event is the first 1000 event on that Tour, while the ATP Tour has an event in Rotterdam which is the first 500 event of the season, although that will begin on Monday.
What it does mean is that some of the top players on the Tour should be in action and that is underlined in Doha where eighteen of the top 20 WTA players are scheduled to play.
Only Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula are going to miss out, but it is a deep tournament beginning on Sunday.
The hope is that there will be a decent foundation on which to build this month when the tournaments of this week come to a conclusion.
It has been a mixed week for the Tennis Picks through to this point, but the hope is a decent end can be produced to end with a positive number as we look to begin the slow ascent out of the Australian Open hole.
Beatriz Haddad Maia - 1.5 games v Daria Kasatkina: The long Second Round match did not have any impact on Beatriz Haddad Maia in her Quarter Final win over Ons Jabeur.
She was helped by an out of sorts opponent, but Beatriz Haddad Maia will be heading into this Semi Final with plenty of confidence.
A match against Daria Kasatkina will always be challenging considering the amount of balls that the World Number 14 will get back into play. However, it has been an extremely mixed start to the season for Kasatkina, even if her best win and performance was in the Quarter Final on Friday when she crushed Sorana Cirstea for the loss of just two games.
Daria Kasatkina has to expect a lot more resistance in this match and she has lost both previous matches against Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Both were on the hard courts in 2023 and all four sets were won by the Brazilian, which will give Haddad Maia a considerable mental edge.
This should be close, but you have to give Beatriz Haddad Maia the edge with her power and serve likely to be key on the faster surfaces.
Daria Kasatkina will have to serve well to keep herself from being put under pressure, but too many second serves will end up being attacked and Beatriz Haddad Maia should have enough to reach the Final in Abu Dhabi.
Grigor Dimitrov - 2.5 games v Karen Khachanov: The disappointing defeat at the Australian Open is the only negative on the Grigor Dimitrov resume in the early part of the 2024 season.
He has won a hard court title and Grigor Dimitrov will feel he should have won his match at the Australian Open when going down to Nuno Borges in an upset.
We have not seen Dimitrov since that defeat, but he has returned in Marseille and has won two matches in strong fashion which will give him confidence. He will know that he needs to serve well to win this Semi Final against Karen Khachanov, especially if the World Number 18 continues to serve as well as he has been in his own two victories at this event.
Both players will feel there is an area of improvement that can be made when it comes to the return of serve, but Dimitrov has the edge in that department.
Wins in all three previous professional matches against Karen Khachanov will certainly help Grigor Dimitrov believe he has the tennis to win this Semi Final. The last of those wins was in Shanghai and Grigor Dimitrov has won six of the seven sets played against the Russian.
In those previous matches, Grigor Dimitrov has a massive edge on the service numbers and he can get the better of Karen Khachanov in this good looking Semi Final in Marseille.
Karolina Pliskova - 3.5 games v Harriet Dart: After coming through the Qualifiers and making a run into the Semi Final in Cluj, Harriet Dart will be back inside the top 100 of the World Rankings when the new list is released on Monday.
This is a positive for a player who has not really pushed on as far as she would have liked, although earning a spot in the Final will be a big challenge for Harriet Dart.
She has taken advantage of what has been a kind draw and only one of the wins has been earned against someone Ranked inside the top 100. That win was against someone Ranked higher than Karolina Pliskova right now, although the Czech player may feel she is on the road back to a more natural place in the World Rankings.
Winning the tournament would see Karolina Pliskova head back towards the top 50 of the World Rankings as injury and a loss of form has seen the World Ranking slump.
Karolina Pliskova has dominated her last two opponents after a tougher than expected First Round win and the confidence has to have grown.
The serve has always been a big weapon for Pliskova and it looks to be working this week, which will give her a chance to contain the threat Harriet Dart brings to the court.
It has been the key difference in their previous two meetings on the Tour, including last year in the Middle East, and the expectation is that Karolina Pliskova will be able to show the tennis that took her to World Number 1 in getting past her British opponent.
Sebastian Baez - 2.5 games v Luciano Darderi: These two players met in the Second Round in Cordoba twelve months ago and both players have improved their World Rankings since that match.
Sebastian Baez is still Ranked considerably higher than Luciano Darderi as they prepare to face off for a spot in the Final, but the home favourite will have plenty of respect for a Qualifier who has won a lot of matches to get to this stage of the tournament.
Being the defending Champion and having won two matches here will show that Sebastian Baez is very comfortable in his surroundings.
However, he will have to respect Luciano Darderi who has beaten consecutive top 60 Ranked opponents without dropping a set. Both Sebastian Ofner and Yannick Hanfmann are not Ranked as high as Baez, but they are solid wins for the 21 year old Italian who is edging closer to a first appearance in the top 100 of the World Rankings.
Like many from his home nation, Darderi is a comfortable clay court player and he has been playing at a really high level this week. It makes him dangerous, but Sebastian Baez is no slouch on the red dirt and he was a straight-forward winner when these two players met last year.
This match should be closer, but Sebastian Baez can still earn a win and a cover.
MY PICKS: Beatriz Haddad Maia - 1.5 Games @ 1.90 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Grigor Dimitrov - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)
Karolina Pliskova - 3.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (2 Units)
Sebastian Baez - 2.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Weekly Update: 7-6, - 0.76 Units (26 Units Staked, - 2.92% Yield)
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