That is simply not a sustainable expectation, and there are going to be moments and periods of frustration.
Two of the three selections made on Tuesday were simply poor Picks and never looked like winning.
A third looked to be on course for a win, but Emma Navarro played some brutally poor tennis at the end of the deciding set that ultimately ripped that winner away from us- she had won the second set with a bagel and that meant just needing to get to four or more games in the final set to earn a victory for the selection, even if she would go on to lose the match.
At 3-3, Navarro moved into a 0-30 lead on the Hailey Baptiste serve and looked like she was ready to hit the four game mark, but it was right at that moment that she lost eight points in a row and was suddenly 5-3 behind.
Things like that will happen in a sport that is decided by the finest of fine margins, but that doesn't mean we have to like it and especially not on a day when it rounds out a poor performance.
Belinda Bencic - 3.5 games v Sonay Kartal: Playing in Abu Dhabi is clearly much to the liking of Belinda Bencic and she has won two of the last three tournaments played here. The defending Champion earned a Bye through the First Round as the top Seed in the tournament and Bencic is going to want a strong response to what was a disappointing Second Round exit at the Australian Open.
Opening up against a Qualifier can be challenging, even for the top players on the Tour and Sonay Kartal has won three matches at the tournament without dropping a set.
The British player reached the Semi Final in Auckland and pushed Elina Svitolina all the way to a final set Tie-Breaker, which is a big achievement considering how well Svitolina played in Melbourne. An early loss in the Australian Open would have been a blow, but Sonay Kartal has had a decent twelve months on the hard courts and that will give her some real confidence and belief.
A lot of credit has to be given to the World Number 61 for having a 3-3 record when facing top 20 Ranked opponents on the hard courts over the last twelve months. Sonay Kartal also has a pretty solid 9-8 record in that time when facing players that come into the match Ranked higher than herself and this is a player that has shown that she can keep the pressure ramped up through strong serving.
With that said, Sonay Kartal will not be intimidated about facing this opponent.
However, it is going to be a significant challenge to beat Belinda Bencic who has won nine matches in a row in Abu Dhabi and who has dropped just four sets in the tournament. The loss in Melbourne would have stung as Belinda Bencic will feel she was the better player in the Second Round, while the World Number 9 has a 21-4 record when facing opponents Ranked outside of the top 20 on the hard courts over the last twelve months.
Belinda Bencic did arrive at the tournament in much stronger form in 2025 having reached the Australian Open Fourth Round, but she did produce plenty of wins last month.
There will be some moments where Belinda Bencic will be challenged by Sonay Kartal and she will need a bit of time to become accustomed with the ball coming back over the net in this first meeting between the players.
At the end of the day, the conditions here have been ideal for Belinda Bencic and the defending Champion can protect her unbeaten record from the last two appearances in Abu Dhabi by winning and doing so in a manner capable of covering this spread.
Alexandra Eala - 1.5 games v Aliaksandra Sasnovich: It is always going to be difficult for a former top 30 player to have to go through Qualifying to enter main draws at events they would usually have taken in without the need for the extra, pressurised matches.
That has been the case for 31 year old Aliaksandra Sasnovich who has slipped out of the top 100 of the World Rankings and been struggling to turn things around.
She has Qualified in Brisbane and Melbourne, but that has been about as far as the run has gone, while Aliaksandra Sasnovich will enter the main draw in Abu Dhabi as a Lucky Loser.
Playing with house money can make any player dangerous, but it has been a tough year on the hard courts for Sasnovich when playing some of the better players on the Tour.
In this one the World Number 109 is also going to have to deal with a fiery crowd as the fans have lined up to support Alexandra Eala, although the experience edge is firmly with the underdog.
Over the last several months, Alexandra Eala has really made a strong move in the World Rankings, but the 20 year old is still vulnerable to an upset and has a 23-14 record against players Ranked outside of the top 50. The numbers are solid when only focusing on matches that are played against opponents lower in the World Rankings, but even then Eala is just 21-13.
As the experience grows, you would expect Alexandra Eala to be able to produce a much stronger record which would be more reflective of the numbers being put together.
For now it makes it a little tougher to believe in her, but Aliaksandra Sasnovich has been struggling at this kind of level and she could come up short again.
MY PICKS: Belinda Bencic - 3.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Alexandra Eala - 1.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (1 Unit)
Weekly Update: 0-3, - 3 Units (3 Units Staked, - 100% Yield)
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