Tennis Picks 2025 (Friday 7th February)

We are down to the business end of the tournaments that have been played this week and will be heading into some bigger events over the remainder of the month before the back to back Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami.

That has not stopped some big names playing this week and those names will be looking to add a title to their collection as the tournaments wind down.

Ranking points are significant. but an early title being bagged could spark the season while some of the other top players on the Tour are resting up for the upcoming events.

A couple of winners on Thursday just moved this week into a positive position and hopefully the same can happen on Friday to keep things going.

With the focus on Abu Dhabi and Rotterdam this week, we are down to the Semi Final and Quarter Final Rounds respectively at the events.

Elena Rybakina - 2.5 games v Belinda Bencic: Even Belinda Bencic had to admit that she could not have written a better story around her return to the Tour having reached the Semi Final in Abu Dhabi with a relatively comfortable win over Marketa Vondrousova in the Quarter Final on Thursday.

She has not dropped a set in the last two Rounds and this is going to be another significant boost for the World Ranking.

The next challenge looks another step up for Belinda Bencic, but she will have taken some confidence about where her tennis stands when taking a set from Coco Gauff at the Australian Open. That is the kind of level that is going to be needed to get the better of Elena Rybakina, who looks to still have one or two issues with a lingering back problem, but who has looked pretty strong all the same at this event.

The World Number 5 had pushed alongside the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Gauff, but results over the last twelve months have simply not been as consistent for Elena Rybakina to maintain the level needed to match those players.

Despite that, she is still very capable on the hard courts, although it is perhaps a surprise that Elena Rybakina has produced stronger numbers on the grass and clay courts rather than this surface.

In saying that, the Rybakina numbers on the hard courts are still very impressive and her serve is going to be key to the outcome of this Semi Final- both players will not want to offer up too many looks at the second serve, but Elena Rybakina might have a slight edge in the control behind the first serve compared with Belinda Bencic and that can be the difference.

An improvement in the first serve percentage needs to be made by the World Number 5, but the same can be said for Belinda Bencic.

Both players can be very aggressive on the return, which makes them dangerous, but the matches are adding up for the recently returned Swiss player and that could see her level dip at some stage during this match. She did hold herself together through difficult moments in the Quarter Final win, but Elena Rybakina is likely going to sustain the pressure on Belinda Bencic and it may lead to the higher Ranked player finding a way through to the Final with a cover of this handicap line.

MY PICKS: Elena Rybakina - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Paddy Power (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 3-1, + 1.54 Units (4 Units Staked, + 38.50% Yield)