A tough day in the office has to be set aside in what has been a difficult week with two poor days out of three.
That is a disappointment and it did feel like some meat was left on the table with a couple of selections not quite making the grade, but ultimately coming in as winners.
However, the last thirteen months have produced a positive return and that means 'trusting the process' rather than worrying about what may have been.
The opening Picks on Wednesday are concentrating on the Third Round matches in Dubai- the Second Round matches in Doha look awkward with some big spreads set, but not big enough to want to trust the underdog either.
Any selections from the ATP tournaments in Delray Beach or Rio will be added to this thread.
Amanda Anisimova - 4.5 games v Janice Tjen: There are going to be questions about the WTA Tour calendar when scheduling consecutive 1000 events on back to back weeks in the Middle East. While the tournament in Doha largely went as planned, there have been a huge number of withdrawals and mid-match retirements here in Dubai as we only get into the Third Round.
Something will have to change, although neither Doha nor Dubai are going to want to hear that the tournaments they run are being downgraded- both are ATP 500 events rather WTA 1000, but even that may not be enough to appease them and a new Council will come together and see how they can help.
Amanda Anisimova has been one of the beneficiaries of a walkover in the Second Round, which means she has only played one match since the Australian Open. Even that match ended with a mid-match retirement when Anisimova had to pull out with an illness, but she has stated she is feeling better and a couple more days of recovery can only help.
This is an important week for Amanda Anisimova who won the title in Doha last year, but who was not able to defend those World Ranking Points last week.
There is some room for improvement in the early season form, but Anisimova is very comfortable on the hard courts and she can get the better of Janice Tjen.
The 23 year old enters the tournament in Dubai under a new career-high World Ranking of Number 46 and this season offers Janice Tjen a big opportunity to really build on that mark. Improving the World Ranking means being able to enter bigger tournaments and Janice Tjen showed how comfortable she is on the hard courts with a huge amount of wins on the surface in 2025.
Of course it should be noted that those were against players of a lower level than what she will be facing at the tournaments she will now be entering and a 5-4 record over the last six weeks suggests this is something of a learning curve. Janice Tjen has won two matches here, which will help the confidence, but she has yet to really get to grips with the return of serve at this level.
The Indonesian player has struggled against the very best players on the Tour and that has led to two straight-forward losses to top 20 Ranked opponents. In those two losses, Janice Tjen has not only struggled to protect the second serve, but she has won just 23% of return points played and someone like Amanda Anisimova can put her under enough pressure to pick up the Breaks of serve needed to cover this spread.
Mirra Andreeva - 5.5 games v Jaqueline Cristian: Another player who earned a walkover in the Second Round in Dubai is the defending Champion Mirra Andreeva.
She had a dominant run here in 2025 and Mirra Andreeva just reached the Doha Third Round, but there will be some pressure to get as close as possible to defend the title and the Ranking Points. That may not be a big issue for older players, but Mirra Andreeva is still developing and will not want to slip out of the top eight of the World Rankings ahead of the Grand Slams to be played.
The lack of competitive tennis this week may be a potential problem, but Andreeva should be happy enough with the conditions having had so much success at the tournament already.
There has been a lot to like about the level being produced early in 2026 and Mirra Andreeva has a 20-6 record on the hard courts when facing players Ranked outside of the top 20 over the last twelve months. She has won over 49% of the return points played in those matches and the World Number 7 will certainly feel she can put this opponent under some extreme pressure.
Jaqueline Cristian won the first set of her Second Round match without dropping a game before her opponent decided to call it a day.
That means the World Number 39 has played three completed sets in Dubai on her way to the Third Round and Cristian has only dropped two games. However, both of those matches have been against opponents Ranked Number 69 or lower and this is a considerable step upwards for a player who had a 5-5 record on the hard courts before the tournament in Dubai begun.
The year started with a run to the Quarter Final in Adelaide, but it has been tough for Jaqueline Cristian since then with early losses becoming the norm before this event.
Over the last twelve months Jaqueline Cristian has played well on the hard courts, but she is just 1-8 when facing top 20 Ranked players on the surface. In those matches, Cristian has been put under significant pressure when serving, and she has struggled to really make a big impact on the return, which is going to be something that Mirra Andreeva looks to exploit in this Third Round match.
It should be noted that in those eight losses against top 20 Ranked opponents, Jaqueline Cristian would have won enough games to stay within this spread four times.
However that also means she has failed to cover in the other half of those defeats and Mirra Andreeva has covered this spread in seventeen of the twenty hard courts wins produced against players Ranked outside the top 20.
Coco Gauff - 3.5 games v Elise Mertens: A really disappointing performance in the Australian Open Quarter Final loss to Elina Svitolina saw Coco Gauff's anger on display when cameras caught her backstage smashing her racquet. She stated in her press conference that she did not want her frustration to be shown to those who look up to her and that was the reason she waited until she had left the court, while other players have not been happy with what they feel was too much intrusion at that opening Grand Slam.
An early defeat in Doha has just kept Coco Gauff out of the headlines, but she showed some character to come through some sticky moments in beating Anna Kalinskaya in the Second Round here.
Despite her own early exit in Doha, Coco Gauff was restored to the American Number 1 spot on the WTA Tour and she will certainly be looking to build on the solid win over Kalinskaya.
Next up is a match against a reinvigorated Elise Mertens who has won all four sets in Dubai by the same 6-2 scoreline as she has cruised through the draw.
Three wins at the United Cup and a run to the Fourth Round at the Australian Open have given the Belgian some real confidence and there is no denying that the overall numbers have been impressive.
It is the first serve in particular that has been a big weapon for Elise Mertens and she will need plenty of those to try and keep the American opponent under some pressure.
Elise Mertens has also won a couple of matches against top 20 Ranked opponents on the hard courts this season, which is a big improvement on the 0-5 record against those players in 2025. The second serve has been a weakness in those matches, although Mertens may have more success against the Coco Gauff serve than she has had in the main against those higher Ranked players.
Double Faults have been the big problem for Coco Gauff for some time and that was the case in the Second Round win.
She cannot afford to give away too many points to Elise Mertens, but Coco Gauff will take confidence from the perfect 4-0 record that she has against the World Number 22 on the Tour.
Two of those wins have been on the hard courts, although Coco Gauff and Elise Mertens have not met for a couple of years and that may help the underdog from a mental point of view.
Even with that in mind, Coco Gauff may still find herself coming out on top at key moments and she can do enough to get through to the Quarter Final with a cover of the handicap set for the match.
MY PICKS: Amanda Anisimova - 4.5 Games @ 1.61 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Mirra Andreeva - 5.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Coco Gauff - 3.5 Games @ 1.91 William Hill (1 Unit)
Weekly Update: 4-6, - 2.49 Units (10 Units Staked, - 24.90% Yield)
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