Tennis Picks 2025 (Tuesday 11th February)

Big fields will head to the Middle East for WTA tournaments in Doha and Dubai and that has meant a really busy opening couple of days in Qatar where the first of back to back WTA 1000 events are being played.

The Saturday finish will see plenty of Singles matches scheduled every day and the big names are back after participating in the Australian Open.

It is a disappointment that Belinda Bencic was not given a Wild Card to play in Doha after winning the title in Abu Dhabi having only recently returned to the Tour- she would have been playing Qualifiers this weekend rather than winning the event in Abu Dhabi, but the organisers should have offered Bencic a place in the draw and hopefully Dubai will be able to do that.

The ATP Tour has three events being played this week, but they are at 250 level with one event taking place on the clay courts in the South American Golden Swing and the other two hard court events before the Tour will also make a move towards the Middle East.

Last week was another decent one for the Tennis Picks to open the season and it is important to keep the momentum ticking over.

There is plenty of tennis to be played this week and so opportunities will be presented to put some more wins on the board, although it is also important for these pages to continue the tight approach taken to putting those selections together.

Daria Kasatkina - 3.5 games v Elina Avanesyan: Twelve months ago Daria Kasatkina reached the Final of the tournament in Abu Dhabi, but an early defeat at that event will have disappointed the World Number 12.

Moving onto Doha, Daria Kasatkina crushed Lucky Loser Polina Kudermetova in the First Round and the double bagel will have given the former a huge boost in confidence. The tests are certainly going to get tougher for Daria Kasatkina compared with the First Round win, but she remains a solid hard court player and will believe she has the qualities to earn a revenge victory over Elina Avanesyan.

The Semi Final run in Hobart last month was a very solid start to the season for Avanesyan, but she has not really been able to back that up in a way that she would have hoped.

Elina Avanesyan was beaten early at the Australian Open and that was followed by a Second Round defeat in Linz a couple of weeks ago before the Armenian decided to head to Doha for this big event.

A tough back and forth match in the First Round ended with Elina Avanesyan getting the better of a higher Ranked opponent, but she was a little fortunate and will have to bring a stronger effort to beat someone like Daria Kasatkina.

That was produced by Elina Avanesyan when she beat Daria Kasatkina on the grass courts of Berlin in June 2023, but she has struggled to compete with higher Ranked opponents on the hard courts over the last twelve months. Winning a match in such a circumstance in the First Round is important for Avanesyan, but her overall numbers suggest she could find herself on the wrong side of the result when facing the top 20 Ranked opponent across the net.

Elina Avanesyan did reach a career high World Ranking last month and at 22 years old there is plenty of improvement to come.

However, the level needed to beat Daria Kasatkina on the hard courts might not be quite there just yet and the higher Ranked player can finish on the right side of a match in which plenty of breaks of serve are going to be put on the board.

MY PICKS: Daria Kasatkina - 3.5 Games @ 1.75 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

2025 Season: 31-16, + 16.94 Units (85 Units Staked, + 19.93% Yield)