Tennis Picks 2026 (Tuesday 17th February)

After the disappointing opening to the week, Monday proved to be a bounce back day, although there is more work to do in order to get the totals back into a position that we want to see.

There is some momentum from the Monday performance, but it is early in the week and we will need some fortune, which has perhaps been missing in the last couple of weeks.

Any selections from the ATP 500 tournament in Rio and the ATP 250 tournament in Delray Beach will be added to this thread with both of those events really getting going after the usual quiet opening day.

Marton Fucsovics - 4.5 games v Hady Habib: The swing through the Middle East is an opportunity for one or two players to pick up Wild Cards and try and use those to build up Ranking Points that can see them earn direct entry into other events on the Tour. In most cases those Wild Cards will be handed out to bigger names who may need them, but there are a couple of beneficiaries in Doha who perhaps are fortunate to be given this opportunity.

One of those is World Number 334 Hady Habib who at 27 years old reached his career best World Ranking mark of 159 last May.

Twelve months ago he received Wild Cards into both the tournaments in Doha and Dubai, but Hady Habib was beaten in opening matches each time.

Credit has to be given to the player for trying to bust his way through on the Tour, but Qualifying has proven too difficult at the bigger tournaments and Hady Habib has lost all three matches played on the hard courts in 2026 without winning a set. The real concern is that in five of the six sets he has dropped, Habib has failed to win more than three games and he has not faced anyone Ranked higher than World Number 143 in that time either.

The serve has been vulnerable in those early matches and Hady Habib has struggled to have any kind of real impact on the return.

Over the last twelve months on the Tour, the Lebanese player has put together a 3-14 record on the hard courts and he is 0-5 in matches against top 100 Ranked opponents. In those matches against the stronger players on the Tour, Hady Habib has struggled to make an impact with his serve, which has only increased the pressure on the return and it may be tough for him to compete with a veteran in the First Round here in Doha.

Marton Fucsovics suffered a really disappointing defeat in Rotterdam, but he was guilty of playing the Break Points poorly in that match.

The 34 year old has not served as well as he would have liked through the opening six weeks of the season, but Fucsovics continues to cause problems with his return. He is a comfortable player on the ground and over the last twelve months Marton Fucsovics has a winning record when facing opponents Ranked outside the top 50 of the World Rankings, while putting some strong numbers on the board.

This is not a player who is adverse to an upset, but Marton Fucsovics has won six of the ten matches played on the hard courts over the last twelve months when he has been the higher Ranked player going into the match.

He has held 88% of his service games played in the Tour matches, which do not include the two Davis Cup matches that were played under those conditions, while Marton Fucsovics has broken in 38% of return games.

As long as he is focused, you have to imagine the quality of tennis will find a way to shine through and Fucsovics can get the better of this awkward line in this best of three set First Round match in Doha.

Stefanos Tsitsipas - 4.5 games v Moez Echargui: The first thing that has to be stated is that Stefanos Tsitsipas is not an easy player to trust when it comes to a spread that could need as many as three Breaks of serve to have any chance of earning a cover.

However, he is facing a Wild Card in the First Round and an opponent who has not had a lot of experience facing players at the very top of the Tour.

Moez Echargui is the World Number 139 and the 33 year old was a few places higher in December, which is the career best mark.

Suffice to say, Echargui has to find some considerable levels to get the better of Stefanos Tsitisipas.

Over the last twelve months, Moez Echargui has put up plenty of wins on the hard courts, but those have been below the main Tour and against players of similar Ranking or lower. That is far from the case when playing in the ATP 500 event in Doha and Moez Echargui lost both matches against top 100 Ranked opponents pretty comfortably in that time period.

Even throughout his career, Echargui is 0-4 against top 100 Ranked opponents on the surface and his serve has been a huge issue for him, which is something that even a limited return player like Stefanos Tsitsipas should be able to exploit against a player who is considerably below the level he is normally used to facing.

However, one of the big disappointments for Stefanos Tsitsipas is that he is only 7-7 when facing players Ranked outside the top 50 on the hard courts over the last twelve months. That record becomes much better when only noting the matches against players Ranked outside the top 100, where Tsitsipas is 5-0, although the hope for the underdog in this one is that those wins have not always been as convincing as they perhaps should have been.

Even then, the World Number 33 is expected to be a little too good as long as he remains focused.

He should be afforded enough Break Points to get into a position to cover this mark and Stefanos Tsitsipas is not expected to have slipped so much that Moez Echargui can make this competitive for more than a set.

Ugo Humbert - 1.5 games v Fabian Marozsan: While it should be noted that the travel time from Rotterdam to Doha is not exactly excessive, it is tough for players to back up big weeks as we have seen time and time again on the Tennis Tour.

That is what Ugo Humbert will be attempting to do having reached the Semi Final in Rotterdam on Saturday before being very unfortunate in losing to Alex De Minaur. His performances have to offer some encouragement and Humbert has a game that is well suited to the hard courts, while the Frenchman will feel very unlucky to have faced a top ten Ranked opponent in the First Round at the Australian Open, despite only being four places out from being Seeded himself.

Ugo Humbert is the World Number 36 and will be looking for a couple of strong runs over the next month, which could push him into a Seeding position for his home Grand Slam in Paris.

There is very little to defend in terms of Ranking Points, but this is not an easy First Round match and Ugo Humbert is going to have to serve well.

He is going in against Fabian Marozsan who is just finding it tough to build up the consistency to really take a leap in the World Rankings.

The Hungarian almost beat Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open, but capitulated in the five set defeat, while Fabian Marozsan has not played a hard court match since the tournament in Melbourne. He has been in action in the Davis Cup, albeit on a clay court, but Fabian Marozsan will not be lacking confidence considering how he performed through the opening month of the season.

In recent years, Fabian Marozsan has been an inconsistent player on the hard court, which is underlined by the fact he has a 0.500 record on the surface between 2023 and 2025. This year he has begun with a 5-3 record thanks to a strong run in Auckland, but Marozsan is not as effective a server as someone like Ugo Humbert and that could make the difference in what have been quick conditions in the Middle East.

Both have some limitations on the return and that is where the superior serving that Ugo Humbert can produce should make the difference in the outcome.

Fabian Marozsan did win the most recent match up between the players on a clay court in 2025, but Ugo Humbert has won the sole previous hard court match and can get the better of this opponent again.

Elina Svitolina - 3.5 games v Paula Badosa: Injury has been one of the biggest issues for Paula Badosa after cracking through on the Tour and reaching World Number 2 in 2022.

She has entered the WTA 1000 event in Dubai as the World Number 70 and that is because Paula Badosa has not been able to get herself healthy to defend the Ranking Points she had been producing.

Much of the second half of the season was missed, which meant Badosa lost the Ranking Points she had produced by winning titles and reaching the business end at a number of the North American hard court events leading into the US Open and then into the Asian Swing. Paula Badosa reached the Australian Open Semi Final thirteen months ago, but was beaten in the Second Round at the 2026 tournament, while she has to reach the Fourth Round in Dubai to match the run put together here in 2025.

At full health there is no doubting how good Paula Badosa can be on the hard courts- she has a solid first serve and the heavy, aggressive groundstrokes had propelled her up the World Rankings.

However, it has been very difficult finding her rhythm on the return from injury and the numbers over the last six weeks have been disappointing, which leaves Paula Badosa vulnerable in this Second Round match.

A solid First Round win has to give Badosa confidence, but she may need to find another level to compete with Elina Svitolina, even after the latter had a poor showing in Doha last week.

That was the first tournament played since Elina Svitolina reached the Australian Open Semi Final and Elina Svitolina will be looking for a much more impactful run before heading to the United States for the big events coming up.

Out of the two players, Paula Badosa will still feel her first serve is the big weapon, although Svitolina will look at her second serve and return numbers as being a key for herself. If she gets enough looks at the second serve, the World Number 9 has to be given the edge, while the mental advantage is with Elina Svitolina having won both previous matches against Badosa.

When they met on the hard courts in a Billie Jean King Cup match on the hard courts in September, Elina Svitolina created more than double the number of Break Points compared with Paula Badosa.

She also won 10% more points behind serve, and you have to believe the veteran can find a way to cover this spread set as the Second Round is played in Dubai.

Emma Navarro v Elise Mertens: There are a lot of games scheduled to be completed in Dubai as the Third Round is set for Wednesday.

That does not mean there are lot of great options and the second selection from the order of play on Tuesday is once again getting behind Emma Navarro.

The American produced a winner for the pages on Monday and it was stated at that time that it felt like Emma Navarro was turning a corner after what has been a difficult six months. The dip in confidence has meant losing tight matches rather than coming out on top, but the couple of wins in Doha will have sparked something and Emma Navarro was solid, if unspectacular, in her First Round win.

She will need to be a little better if she is going to beat Elise Mertens, but two previous wins on the Tour should give Navarro some further belief.

Those matches were both on the hard courts, but they were played early in the 2024 season, including one win in Doha.

It turned out to be something of a down season for Elise Mertens on the hard courts, but the now 30 year old Belgian player has opened 2026 in decent form.

The numbers have been solid, although Elise Mertens has taken advantage of the draw at times and that is underlined by the big dip in those numbers when only considering matches against top 100 Ranked opponents. In those matches, Mertens has not been nearly as dominant behind the serve, while her return game has not been quite as effective either and that is something that Emma Navarro can exploit.

Despite her record against top 100 Ranked opponents so far in 2026, Emma Navarro has produced numbers that will turn the results around.

With her head to head with Elise Mertens and the slightly stronger consistency around the serve, Emma Navarro may be worthy of backing as a slight underdog on Tuesday.

MY PICKS: Marton Fucsovics - 4.5 Games @ 1.91 William Hill (1 Unit)

Stefanos Tsitsipas - 4.5 Games @ 1.80 William Hill (1 Unit)

Ugo Humbert - 1.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Elina Svitolina - 3.5 Games @ 1.87 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Emma Navarro @ 2.20 William Hill (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 3-3, - 0.40 Units (6 Units Staked, - 6.67% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2026 (Monday 16th February)

That was not the start to the new week that I would have wanted, but it is frustrating that it was a point or two that saw both Picks slip into the losing side of the ledger.

Linda Noskova and Liudmila Samsonova both had opportunities to break serve which would have put them in command of the opportunity to cover the spread.

Instead those Break Points were won by the opponents and that leaves work to do in order to get this week back on track.

On Monday the rest of the First Round at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai will be completed and there are a couple of Second Round matches also scheduled.

The ATP 500 events in Doha and Rio will also get into main draw action, as will the 250 tournament being played on the hard courts of Delray Beach. Selections from the two tournaments played on the North and South American continents will be added to the threads on most days over the coming week and that is simply because those markets will come out much later than for the two events being played in the Middle East.

Ultimately it is all about getting back on track and trying to put the best week together since the end of the Australian Open.

Belinda Bencic - 4.5 games v Jessica Bouzas Maneiro: After stating her excitement about being back in Abu Dhabi where she had won titles in the previous two appearances, Belinda Bencic would have been extremely disappointed to have had to withdrawn before her first match with an illness. She did not take part in Doha last week either, which has meant slipping back outside the top ten in the World Rankings, but Belinda Bencic has begun 2026 in solid form and will be looking to pick up some important Ranking Points this week in Dubai.

This has not been a tournament in which Belinda Bencic has had nearly as much success as Abu Dhabi, but that does mean she has little in terms of Ranking Points to defend. In 2025 she was beaten in the Second Round and Belinda Bencic will certainly be targeting a longer stay before heading over to the United States to take part at Indian Wells and Miami.

A Second Round defeat in Melbourne would have hurt, but Belinda Bencic had a really strong run at the United Cup and she will know she should have won that match at the Australian Open.

Every player on the Tour will feel there is room for improvement and Belinda Bencic may want to protect the second serve a little more efficiently, but the overall performances on the hard courts over the last twelve months makes her a contender to win titles on the surface.

As much as you have to respect Jessica Bouzas Maneiro for working her way into the top 50 of the World Rankings, it cannot be ignored that she has had a difficult start to 2026.

The 23 year old has lost three of the four matches played since the beginning of the new season, while Bouzas Maneiro also finished with a losing record on the hard courts last year.

It would be something that could be excused if Jessica Bouzas Maneiro had been given some really tough draws, but she crushed Coco Gauff at the United Cup and has since lost to the then World Number 66 and World Number 367. The manner of those defeats would be a real concern, while Bouzas Maneiro was beaten by Anna Kalinskaya in very routine fashion last week in Doha.

As long as Belinda Bencic is still not feeling a lingering effects from the illness that forced her out of Abu Dhabi, the Swiss player should have too much on this surface and she can win with a break or two more in each set.

Emma Navarro - 2.5 games v Elena-Gabriela Ruse: You are never going to get over a difficult period where you have lost form and confidence very easily, but Emma Navarro did put at least one win on the board in Doha last week. That was not something she could extend to consecutive matches for the first time since Adelaide, but the American has an opportunity to at least the Second Round here in Dubai.

She will be opening up against Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who was beaten very comfortably in Cluj in front of the home fans.

The World Number 72 came through Qualifying wins in Brisbane and Adelaide, but was not able to win main draw matches, before Elena-Gabriela Ruse reached the Third Round at the Australian Open. Winning two Qualifying matches here in Dubai has to have given Ruse a boost in confidence, while the familiarity with the conditions is a factor that goes in her favour too.

Like many on the Tour, Elena-Gabriela Ruse knows the importance of backing up the first serve on the faster surfaces and that has led to a winning record on the hard courts over the last twelve months.

However, the numbers have taken a significant dip when only considering matches played against top 50 Ranked opponents on this surface in that time period. In those Elena-Gabriela Ruse has a 3-8 record, while she has not been able to serve nearly as effectively as she would like and that has placed additional pressure on the return game.

Of course she is facing an opponent who is not in confident mood and that will help, but Emma Navarro is still getting enough of her own serve to believe she will begin to turn things around.

Having little in terms of World Ranking Point to defend in the Middle East run is a help, but Navarro will also suggest she is still playing at a high enough level to beat this opponent in front of her.

Two previous matches, both on the hard courts, have gone in Emma Navarro's favour with the most recent being played around six months ago in Beijing.

It was far from a win as comfortable as the scoreboard may suggest with both players giving the other plenty to think about on the return of serve.

That is likely to be the case again on Monday in the First Round in Dubai, even in the quicker conditions we tend to see at this tournament.

Those conditions could help Emma Navarro a little more though and that is where the World Number 18 may find a way to battle past the opponent and the line set for this match.

Anna Kalinskaya - 3.5 games v Jelena Ostapenko: A spread like this one does look a little disrespectful to a former Grand Slam Winner in Jelena Ostapenko, but these days her most consistent tennis tends to be played on a Doubles court.

With that being said, respect has to be given to the World Number 24 for reaching the Doha Semi Final at a WTA 1000 event.

The run was unexpected considering Jelena Ostapenko had been 2-4 on the hard courts in 2026, but she took advantage of a number of upsets around her in Doha. While beating one top 20 Ranked opponent, the other three wins in the tournament were against players Ranked Number 57 or lower and Jelena Ostapenko found herself well beaten by Victoria Mboko in the Semi Final.

Over the last two and a bit years on the hard courts, Jelena Ostapenko's numbers have been declining and she finished with an 8-14 record on the surface last year.

Reaching the Semi Final in Doha will help the confidence, but Ostapenko played a lot of tennis at that tournament having also reached the Doubles Final. The Latvian, and her partner, blew a massive lead in that Final before being beaten and this is a match up that has given Jelena Ostapenko problems in the past.

Anna Kalinskaya has made a much stronger start to 2026, although she was beaten in the Quarter Final in Doha to eventual Champion Karolina Muchova.

All four of the defeats suffered in 2026 have been against top 20 Ranked opponents, which also deserves a lot of respect, and the Anna Kalinskaya numbers being put together on the hard courts have been much better than those produced by Jelena Ostapenko.

The World Number 28 will certainly feel she can be more effective behind the second serve compared with Jelena Ostapenko, while the latter is much more likely to throw in too many Unforced Errors.

In the three previous matches on the Tour, Anna Kalinskaya has not only won all three, but she has not dropped a set and the service numbers have been much stronger on her side of the net.

Having had a little more time to prepare for this tournament in Doha, most factors seem to be in favour of the lower Ranked player and Anna Kalinskaya can lay the foundation for another strong Middle East run by producing a strong win in this First Round match in Dubai.

MY PICKS: Belinda Bencic - 4.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Emma Navarro - 2.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Anna Kalinskaya - 3.5 Games @ 1.87 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Daniil Medvedev - 4.5 Games @ 2.05 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 0-2, - 2 Units (2 Units Staked, - 100% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2026 (Sunday 15th February)

It was an inconsistent week for the Tennis Picks, but avoiding a big losing one is always important.

Karolina Muchova would have enjoyed the week much more than most as she picked up the WTA 1000 title in Doha and she will be looking to complete the Middle East double with the Dubai event beginning on Sunday.

There have been a couple of high-profile withdrawals from the next tournaments taking place, but in the main this looks like one where the top names are ready for one more big effort before resting and preparing for the Sunshine Double in the United States next month.

Sunday is usually a quieter day for the Tennis Picks with most tournaments concluding on the day, but that is not the case then the Middle East swing is in operation with Finals scheduled for Saturday.

This week we also have some big ATP 500 events taking place and so it could be one of the busier weeks for the Tennis Picks if matches fit the criteria being used for selections. 

Linda Noskova - 3.5 games v Ann Li: The swing through the Middle East takes in two WTA 1000 events and the second of those begins on Sunday in Dubai.

There are a few Byes littered through the draw, but World Number 12 Linda Noskova will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing run in Doha. She is Seeded low enough to have to begin in the First Round in Dubai, while the 21 year old will be looking to put together some momentum before the big Masters events in North America which are played through March to conclude the first half of the hard court season.

The faster surfaces have been more productive for Linda Noskova over the last twelve months and that will be a reason she will be a little disappointed with her early results.

Linda Noskova continues to serve with some authority, but she has been put under pressure to make sure enough first serves are put into play. That is partly down to the relatively weak returning numbers and that is going to be tested on what have normally been pretty quick hard courts.

Of course that will allow Noskova to get a little more out of the first serve, but her opponent, Ann Li, is going to be very confident of using the conditions to her own advantage.

Her own first serve has proved to be a strong weapon on the hard courts, but Ann Li is perhaps not averaging as many first serves landing as she would like. This has put plenty of pressure on her own second serve and return game and Ann Li has found herself coming up a little short at key moments.

She played well in Doha, which will also give her some confidence, but Ann Li was beaten in a match she would have been favoured to win.

Both players will be looking to contain the threat of the other with the serve, but it does look like Linda Noskova deserves to be given favouritism.

The loss in Doha will have been a blow, but Linda Noskova has been very solid when facing opponents Ranked outside the top 20 on the hard courts over the last twelve months. The numbers back that up, while Ann Li has struggled to impose her tennis on top 20 Ranked opponents on this surface throughout her career and that may be the case in this First Round match in the latest WTA 1000 tournament.

Liudmila Samsonova - 2.5 games v Leylah Fernandez: Both of these players are Ranked inside the top 30, but neither can really point to much positive form to open the 2026 season.

Out of the two, Liudmila Samsonova has reached a couple of Quarter Finals, including in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, but she did suffer an opening Round defeat in Doha.

That is still considerably stronger form than Leylah Fernandez who has lost five of the six hard court matches played this season and all of those losses have been in matches in which she entered as the higher Ranked player. The Canadian is a former US Open Finalist, but Fernandez has struggled to put the consistency together and she has a record that is only just over 0.500 over the last twelve months to underline the statement.

A real concern for Fernandez is that she has struggled to be competitive- her sole win in 2026 has been against the World Number 220, and all of her defeats have been in straight sets.

The serve has been vulnerable, but it is the return game which has really been troubling Leylah Fernandez and she may struggle to get a lot of joy out of the Samsonova serve.

In the three previous matches against one another, it is Liudmila Samsonova who has won twice, but the numbers have suggested she has been the better player each time. The two hard court matches have been split with a win apiece, but the edge has to be with Samsonova against an out of sorts Leylah Fernandez.

MY PICKS: Linda Noskova - 3.5 Games @ 1.91 William Hill (1 Unit)

Liudmila Samsonova - 1.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (1 Unit)

Season 2026: 47-35, + 13.16 Units (148 Units Staked, + 8.89% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2026 (Friday 13th February)

The business end of the current tournaments has come around with the Quarter Final matches scheduled at the three ATP events, while the WTA Doha event has reached the Semi Final.

It has been an inconsistent week for the Tennis Picks, but there is still an opportunity to finish with some strong form and to add some positive numbers to the season total.

Any selections from the tournaments in Dallas and Buenos Aires will be added to this thread once assessed after the markets have been fully formed.

Karolina Muchova - 3.5 games v Maria Sakkari: After dropping the first set in her Quarter Final match against Iga Swiatek, Maria Sakkari was a significant underdog to progress.

Not only is the 30 year old dropping down the World Rankings, but Swiatek had not been beaten in her previous 109 WTA 1000 level matches after taking the opening set.

The World Number 52 has had to spend two and a half hours on the court in the Quarter Final, but that victory will be pushing Maria Sakkari back up towards the top 30 in the World Rankings. She will have taken a lot of confidence from the win over the top Seed in Doha and Maria Sakkari has put together four good wins in the tournament to move into the Semi Final.

After a decline in 2025, Sakkari will be feeling much better about her level of performance in the early events in 2026 and she will certainly feel she has the tennis to give Karolina Muchova plenty to think about.

One mid-match withdrawal aside, Karolina Muchova has eased through the draw and her win over Anna Kalinskaya in the Quarter Final continues her fine form.

She has faced a much more manageable part of the draw compared with Maria Sakkari who has two top ten wins on the board.

However, Karolina Muchova has been playing at a higher level on the hard courts over the last twelve months and she has been winning a lot of tennis matches on the surface since the beginning of January.

With the upsets that have taken place in the tournament, Karolina Muchova will feel there is a big opportunity for her to win the title here, while that may be good enough to earn her a return to the top ten herself.

Both players have been backing up the serve very effectively here in Doha, but it is Karolina Muchova who has been getting slightly more out of that shot. It is the World Number 19 who has also been the slightly more effective return player and that could show up in this latest meeting between the two veterans of the Tour.

They have not faced one another since August 2023 when Karolina Muchova beat Maria Sakkari on the hard courts of Cincinnati, but it was a match that went the distance. Back then Maria Sakkari was the higher Ranked player and it may be tough for her to bridge the gap, especially having put in so much physical and mental effort to win the Quarter Final on Thursday.

MY PICKS: Karolina Muchova - 3.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet Fred (1 Unit)

Alex De Minaur - 4.5 Games @ 1.85 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 8-7, + 0.23 Units (15 Units Staked, + 1.53% Yield)

Premier League Darts Night 2 Picks 2026 (Thursday 12th February)

The expectation within the Premier League Darts tournament is that the two Lukes will make it through to the Play Offs and the other six players are fighting it out for two places.

However, those other six are all amongst the best players on the Tour and you just know that none of them are thinking the same way, while Night 1 saw neither Littler nor Humphries make the Final.

Instead it was Michael van Gerwen who got the better of Gian van Veen as the former looks to bounce back from a poor 2025 Premier League campaign.

With the majority of the players resting ahead of the first night in Antwerp, an opportunity is available to those heading into Night 2 knowing that both Lukes will not be able to pick up points as they open in the Quarter Final.

The bottom half is the one where the four players will all feel they can reach the Final and at least put some quality points on the board even if they come up short of winning, but we are obviously still very early in this tournament which comes to a conclusion at the end of May.

With that being said, that does not mean this is not a big night for all involved as we saw last year how things can spiral out of control if those early points are not placed on the board.

On Night 2, the bottom half does look weaker and that is where Gerwyn Price could make hay after his narrow Quarter Final loss last week.

He has been one of those playing at the two Players Championship events on Monday and Tuesday and the effort in the second of those has continued to show the form that Price is producing.

The Quarter Final is not going to be easy, but the Welshman could build some real momentum into the Final and he is set as the second favourite here.

Last week I also mentioned that Luke Littler has not performed on Night 1 in the previous two editions of the Premier League and he suffered another early exit- he reached the Final in 2024 on Night 2 and won in 2025 and so it is perhaps no surprise he has been set as the player to beat, even when competing in the tougher half fo the draw.

Luke Littler to win & most 180s v Luke Humphries: The Premier League Final was won by Luke Humphries when facing Luke Littler, but it is the World Number 1 who has won the last four matches between these players.

In last year's Premier League, Littler had won five of the eight matches between the players in the table before losing that Final.

He did beat Luke Humphries in a highly competitive Final at the World Masters earlier this month and Luke Littler made a point out of the fact that Humphries continued to fight hard and believe in what he was trying to do even when the match seemed to be slipping away from him.

This has been one of the criticisms of Luke Humphries, who never really got to enjoy his time as World Champion and World Number 1 for as long as he would have imagined with all that happening at the same time as Luke Littler's emergence.

The former World Number 1 has high praise for his young rival, but you have to feel the urgency will be with Luke Littler after the disappointing defeat in the Quarter Final last week.

Even in a losing effort, you would anticipate that Littler's power scoring and maximum hitting would surpass Luke Humphries, as it did in the defeat to Gian van Veen. Both players rested earlier this week rather than travelling to play the opening Players Championship tournaments, which is something that both Lukes have suggested will be a long-term part of the schedule management when those tournaments are played outside of Wigan.

Tiredness and fatigue should not be a factor, as it may have been in the performances on Night 1 just days after the World Master Final. That should mean plenty of big scores, but Littler looks the right player to back having shown his Night 2 recoveries after poor Night 1 performances in the last couple of years of the Premier League.

Michael van Gerwen to win & over 1.5 180s v Josh Rock: 2025 was a difficult personal year for Michael van Gerwen and that had to have an impact on his performances on the oche.

He did win a TV title, but van Gerwen was seen significantly behind the top two players in the World Rankings and he entered the World Darts Championship as a relatively big outsider compared with his previous successes.

That being said, the Dutchman has also been speaking much more positively about 2026 and what can be achieved and he is still very confident that his best level will give any opponent problems.

Winning one of the two Masters events played in the Middle East in January has been followed by a Night 1 win in the Premier League and Michael van Gerwen will be looking to build on that.

Last year he failed to Qualify for the Players Championship, but Michael van Gerwen took in both tournaments earlier in the week and reached the Semi Final on Monday and Quarter Final on Tuesday. The performances were at a very good level and the World Masters aside, he has looked much closer to what we have come to expect from him over recent years.

He can beat Josh Rock, who lost on his Premier League debut to Jonny Clayton and who did play earlier this week.

There is no doubting the talent that Rock possesses, but this is a learning curve for him to be playing with the elite every week and that can be tough both mentally and physically. The Northern Irishman has perhaps not played up to the level that helped his nation win the World Cup back in June and Rock was crushed by Luke Littler at the World Masters.

You do have to wonder if Josh Rock is going to be a little undercooked early in the Premier League with the limited competitive darts played since the World Championship.

He did have a couple of close wins over Michael van Gerwen in 2025, which will help in the confidence department, but the World Number 4 has looked really focused and secure at least two maximums on his way to a win in this Quarter Final.

Jonny Clayton-Stephen Bunting both over 2.5 180s: At the start of the Premier League, these two players could not be split easily by the layers when it came to finding a favourite to finish bottom of the League standings.

The 2025 Premier League could not have gone much worse for Stephen Bunting and he suffered yet another Quarter Final defeat on Night 1 of the 2026 tournament. He has been struggling for consistency for several months now and that was one of the main reasons so many believed that he should not be included in the Premier League this time around.

As much as Bunting insists that he is not worrying about what the critics think, you do know the pressure is going to ramp up if he cannot start putting some strong points on the board very soon.

Jonny Clayton is a former Premier League Champion and has been desperate to find the consistency to force his way back into the elite competition. He had a solid year to earn one of the eight places and Clayton has Qualified for the Play Offs in each of his previous appearances in the Premier League.

He will have been hurt by so many people writing him off, but Clayton did win a match last week before losing to Gian van Veen in the Semi Final and he is in the 'weaker' half of the Night 2 tournament.

Both players were resting ahead of this match and it is Clayton who has been set as a deserved favourite- both are capable of getting things ramped up in the maximum hitting market and a match that should go at least nine Legs can see both rack up three of those.

Whoever can handle some of the pressure the best with the potential for decent points to be secured may be the one that comes out on top with the narrow lean being with the Welshman.

Gerwyn Price to win v Gian van Veen: Five of the eight Premier League players did not take part in the Players Championship tournaments played earlier in the week, but both Gerwyn Price and Gian van Veen did.

They had very different performances.

Gian van Veen was beaten in the Second Round in Players Championship 1 and the opening Round in Players Championship 2 and he will have been disappointed with the numbers. Yes, he was beaten by another impressive effort from Justin Hood, but the loss to Madars Razma was not against an opponent producing huge numbers and the Gian van Veen performances were not what we have come to expect from him.

Perhaps it was down to reaching the Final on Night 1 of the Premier League in his debut appearance at the event.

The World Number 3 was solid in his two wins over Luke Littler and Jonny Clayton, but found Michael van Gerwen too good and Gian van Veen will need Gerwyn Price to have cooled down.

Like his opponent, Gerwyn Price was beaten in the Second Round on Monday, but that was after putting an average of over 103 on the board against Connor Scutt.

Things went much better on Tuesday as Price crushed opponents on his way to the Final and he was beaten by Wessel Nijman, despite having an average of over 107 after all of the best of fifteen Legs were needed.

The Welshman lost in the Quarter Final last week, but will feel he should have beaten Luke Humphries, much as the Ice Man will feel he should have beaten Luke Littler at the World Masters.

There is no doubt that Gerwyn Price is right amongst the very best performers on the Tour right now and he has been for a number of months, even if the big titles have just eluded his grasp.

This is going to be a fun match, but it was a surprise that Price was going to be a slight underdog across the board, although that may not be the case now.

Even then, Gezzy looks the right player to back in this Quarter Final on the form he has been putting together in 2026.

MY PICKS: Luke Littler to Win & Most 180s @ 2.30 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Michael van Gerwen to Win & Over 1.5 180s @ 2.15 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Both Jonny Clayton & Stephen Bunting Over 2.5 180s @ 2.30 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Gerwyn Price @ 1.91 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Darts 2026: 6-9, - 0.96 Units (14 Units Staked, - 6.86% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2026 (Thursday 12th February)

The tournaments continue at a pace this week and we are into the Quarter Final Round at the WTA 1000 event being played in Doha.

Some of the players will have already made the short journey across to Dubai for the next 1000 event that begins on Sunday, while the ATP Tour continues with the stops made in Buenos Aires, Dallas and Rotterdam.

Wednesday proved to be an incredibly mixed day for the Tennis Picks, but Thursday is a new day and selections will be added to this thread.

Elena Rybakina - 4.5 games v Victoria Mboko: After coming through a match in which she had to Break serve to avoid losing, Victoria Mboko may feel she is playing with house money.

Beating Elena Rybakina in a big event is something that Victoria Mboko has already achieved in her young career when coming from behind to earn a Semi Final victory over this opponent in the Montreal Semi Final last year. That was also in a WTA 1000 event, but Victoria Mboko was beaten either side of that win in Washington and Tokyo and she has been second best in all three matches.

The youngster is plenty talented and Victoria Mboko continues to get on the front foot when the first serve lands, which has led to plenty of points won.

However, this is a player who has seen her numbers decline in each of the last three wins in Doha and Mboko has just had one or two issues dealing with the return of serve without having played someone like the Australian Open Champion.

Elena Rybakina also needed three sets to win her match to reach the Quarter Final, but she has played one fewer match in Doha compared with Victoria Mboko and there is a real confidence around this player.

The World Number 3 has kept the pressure on opponents with her very strong serving performances over the last several months. That is going to be important for Elena Rybakina again and she has had a considerable edge in the three previous matches against Victoria Mboko with all taking place on the hard courts.

This is a big spread when you think of some of the inconsistency that Elena Rybakina has put on the board when it comes to the return of serve, but she will have the edge if she sees enough second serves in this match and that can see her find a way to edge past this number set.

Karolina Muchova - 3.5 games v Anna Kalinskaya: A retirement helped Karolina Muchova past another compatriot, but she continues to put together some very solid tennis that has put her on course to just take a leap in the World Rankings and potentially win a big title.

The WTA 1000 events are as big as it gets below the Grand Slam level and Karolina Muchova would end the tournament in Doha back inside the top ten of the World Rankings if she can go on and win the title here.

That is not going to be easy and this Quarter Final could prove to be awkward.

Anna Kalinskaya had to play later than imagined on Wednesday, but she will have taken a lot of confidence from earning a win over Elina Svitolina as she prepares to face another opponent with a winning record against her.

Another couple of wins could see Anna Kalinskaya move back inside the top 20 of the World Rankings and there has been a real confidence around her performances this week. Twelve months ago, Kalinskaya was beaten early in Doha and Dubai, but the Middle East swing has been much more positive in her three wins in 2026.

There is a nice balance to the Anna Kalinskaya game, which makes her dangerous on both sides of the net, but this is another tough match to overcome.

Karolina Muchova has been very good behind the serve and the all court abilities continue to pose a threat towards opponents who have simply not been used to playing someone with this kind of skillset very often.

Both players are going to be leaning on some strong serving to put themselves in a positive position within the match, while Anna Kalinskaya may feel she has the superiority when it comes to the return.

The numbers are actually really competitive, but it is Karolina Muchova who has been able to impose her will on the Anna Kalinskaya in previous matches against one another. That may give her the slight mental edge, while Muchova may be the player who earns a few more easier points over the course of the Quarter Final, which can just see her come through some pressurised moments within sets.

This may ultimately show up on the scoreboard and Karolina Muchova can move into another Semi Final with a cover of the spread set for this battle.

MY PICKS: Elena Rybakina - 4.5 Games @ 2.05 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Karolina Muchova - 3.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Denis Shapovalov - 2.5 Games @ 1.70 William Hill (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 6-6, - 0.38 Units (12 Units Staked, - 3.17% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2026 (Wednesday 11th February)

The middle of the week tends to be the busiest time for the tournaments that are played over seven days rather than the longer events that have begun to be scheduled for the Masters events which are played simultaneously by the men and women.

This week looks to be no different with a lot of matches set to be played in Doha, Dallas, Rotterdam and Buenos Aires and the Tennis Picks will be added to this thread.

For now the focus is on the WTA Doha Third Round matches and one of the remaining First Round matches in Dallas- any selections from the Second Round will be added once all of the matches are scheduled following Tuesday's night of play.

Mirra Andreeva - 2.5 games v Victoria Mboko: For the second time in 2026, two teenagers who are both Ranked inside the top 20 on the WTA Tour will face one another on the hard courts.

Last month Mirra Andreeva made relatively easy work of getting past Victoria Mboko in the Final in Adelaide, although it should be pointed out that the latter had some tough matches earlier in the tournament. That had seen her spend a lot more time on the court compared with Andreeva, which is something that you should factor into the outcome of the Final.

Despite that, Mirra Andreeva may feel she had room to spared in winning having broken five times compared to just the once for the Canadian. Mirra Andreeva dominated behind serve and won 56% of the return points played and that will give her confidence, as will the way she handled the Second Round win over Magda Linette when coming through some sticky moments to focus at key times.

Being a higher Seeded player means Mirra Andreeva has had to play one match to reach the Third Round, while Victoria Mboko has had to win two matches.

The latter has been solid in her two victories in the tournament and the consistency is something that has pushed Victoria Mboko close to breaking into the top ten of the World Rankings. She has not produced spectacular numbers, but sometimes players just have an 'x factor' that sees them knuckle down and win the big points and that is seemingly something that the 19 year old possesses.

Both players will be aware of the importance of the first serve and making plenty of those deliveries to get on top of the opponent.

The second serve numbers have been decent enough, but Mirra Andreeva and Victoria Mboko will both believe they have the returning power to put the other on the back foot when getting looks at that second serve. Both have produced some very solid returning numbers and that should mean we are in for a closer match than the first meeting between the two.

In saying that, there is still a feeling that the younger player, Mirra Andreeva, is operating at a slightly higher level compared with the lower Ranked Victoria Mboko.

She has a slight edge on the first serve and on the return and that win in Adelaide will still give her a mental edge, even if Mboko feels that she had run out of energy.

All fans should have eyes on this Third Round match in Doha between two youngsters that have the potential to win multiple Grand Slam titles between them, but right now it feels Mirra Andreeva can frank the first victory over Victoria Mboko by producing another here.

Elina Svitolina - 3.5 games v Anna Kalinskaya: A run to the Semi Final at any Grand Slam event deserves plenty of respect and personal pride, but you do have to believe that Elina Svitolina will have been seriously disappointed with her effort in that match against Aryna Sabalenka last month at the Australian Open. It was a run that has taken her back inside the top ten of the World Ranking though and that has allowed Elina Svitolina to begin this tournament in the Second Round where she was a convincing winner of a compatriot.

As has been mentioned a few times in matches involving Elina Svitolina, there is no doubt that the World Number 9 has been highly motivated when playing opponents who are Russian or Belarusian nationals.

That may not have been enough to see her beat the World Number 1, but during that run in Australia, Elina Svitolina was able to beat both Diana Schnaider and Mirra Andreeva, two Russian players who are inside the top 23 of the World Rankings. The win over Andreeva was particularly impressive and Elina Svitolina will be very keen to get one over on Anna Kalinskaya in the Third Round in Doha.

Anna Kalinskaya was the World Number 11 in October 2024, but has not maintained that consistency even if she is still inside the top 30.

She has shown how competitive she can be when pushing Iga Swiatek in a three set loss at the Australian Open and Kalinskaya has won a couple of matches here in Doha. The Second Round win over Emma Navarro underlined the kind of character that Anna Kalinskaya has on the court and she has won a set in each of the three losses suffered on the hard courts this season.

The numbers have to be admired, but this has proven to be a tough match for the World Number 28.

These two players have met three times on the Tour and all since May 2024, while playing one another twice last year.

All of those matches have been won by Elina Svitolina in straight sets, while the Ukrainian beat Anna Kalinskaya on the hard courts of Dubai and Montreal in 2025. Those two wins have been very one-sided with Elina Svitolina keeping Anna Kalinskaya under pressure on the return and serving with effectiveness to contain any threat that the lower Ranked player has been able to put together.

It is almost impossible to ignore the fact that the four sets played between the players last year were won 6-1, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 by Elina Svitolina.

You cannot really expect the World Number 9 to continue to beat a talented opponent as comfortably as that every time they meet, but Elina Svitolina's motivations are clear and she should have enough about her to cover this spread that has been set for the Third Round meeting in Doha.

MY PICKS: Mirra Andreeva - 2.5 Games @ 1.75 Bet Victor (1 Unit)
Elina Svitolina - 3.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Maria Sakkari - 3.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (1 Unit)

Karolina Muchova - 5.5 Games @ 1.95 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Tommy Paul - 3.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 5-3, + 1.77 Units (8 Units Staked, + 22.13% Yield)