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)

Tennis Picks 2026 (Monday 9th February)

Last week was not the most convincing for the Tennis Picks, but a new set of tournaments offers an opportunity to bounce back.

There were a number of 250 events taking place last week alongside the WTA 500 event in Abu Dhabi, but three big tournaments are set to be played over the coming days.

The WTA Doha event is the top one as an 1000 event with some of the very best players on the Tour involved, including new Australian Open Champion Elena Rybakina.

On the ATP side, tournaments in Rotterdam and Dallas are 500 level events, while the Golden Swing begins in South America.

So while last week was a relatively quiet one for the Picks after the conclusion of the Australian Open, this week should be busier, which means considerable work to do in order to get back to putting some solid returns on the board.

Monday is usually a quiet day at most tournaments, especially the start of those tournaments, but the Middle East swing means those events begin on Sunday and so there is plenty of tennis scheduled in Doha.

Any selections from Buenos Aires from the Monday schedule will be added to this thread.

Amanda Anisimova - 5.5 games v Karolina Pliskova: The Australian Open is now in the history books and the WTA Tour is swinging through the Middle East with back to back 1000 events.

The Second Round is where the majority of the top names enter the tournament in Doha and Amanda Anisimova is going into the event as the Number 3 Seed.

Her head to head with Karolina Pliskova has to be a concern with the veteran winning five of the six previous matches on the Tour, although it has been over two and a half years since they last played one another. That was on the hard courts in Canada and Karolina Pliskova only dropped two games, while all of those previous matches have been on this surface, which has to give Pliskova a huge boost.

Of course it should be noted that Karolina Pliskova was the higher Seeded player in all of those previous matches and was in the top 15 of the World Rankings in all of those.

Things have changed in February 2026 with Karolina Pliskova making her way back up the World Rankings having missed much of 2025 through injury and she is the World Number 416. An early loss in Cluj will have dented some of the confidence that was earned by reaching the Australian Open Third Round, but Pliskova was a strong winner in the First Round in Doha and the serve continues to be a big weapon.

It should be a positive for her in this Second Round match against an aggressive player in Amanda Anisimova, but one who has yet to really get on top of return games as much a World Number 4 may expect.

However, that return number has improved when Amanda Anisimova has played against opponents Ranked outside of the top 50 on hard courts over the last twelve months. She has been able to back up her improvement by winning twenty-one out of twenty-five matches in that spot, while the American has also been able to back up her powerful first serve very efficiently.

The performances over the last month have given Karolina Pliskova some confidence, but she was beaten pretty handily by Madison Keys in Melbourne.

Madison Keys is the highest Ranked player Pliskova has played since she returned to the Tour at the end of last year and the other matches have been against players who have not been Ranked above Number 59. Confidence and having plenty of experience taking on some of the stronger players on the Tour will give Karolina Pliskova enough to carry her onto the court, but Amanda Anisimova may prove to be a little too tough and can earn the Breaks of serve that can see her move through to the Third Round.

Mirra Andreeva - 5.5 games v Magda Linette: Reaching the Fourth Round of a Grand Slam would be seen as a positive for most 18 year olds, but that is not the case for the current World Number 7.

After reaching the Quarter Final in Brisbane and then winning the title in Auckland, Mirra Andreeva looked to have plenty of momentum to take into the first Grand Slam of the season. She made a decent enough start to the event, but the performance in the Fourth Round defeat to Elina Svitolina will have really been one that disappointed her and her team and Andreeva will be looking to bounce back in Doha and Dubai over the next couple of weeks.

Big Ranking points are on offer in those events, but looking too far ahead would be a mistake and Mirra Andreeva will be aware of the threat this opponent poses.

Magda Linette has started the season with a 5-2 record and she did upset Emma Navarro at the Australian Open, although the latter has been in poor form for several months. The two defeats were both in one-sided contests, including a crushing loss at the hands of Karolina Muchova in Melbourne, while Magda Linette has mainly feasted on beating those further down the World Rankings.

She battled past Sonay Kartal in the First Round in Doha, but Linette is going to have to be a lot better if she is going to upset one of the top Seeds in the tournament.

With Aryna Sabalenka missing, Mirra Andreeva has to be amongst the favourites to win the title in either Doha or Dubai, and her overall numbers remain very impressive.

The first serve continues to be an improving weapon for the young player and Mirra Andreeva can be a very dangerous returner when at her best.

The expectation is that Andreeva is going to be able to attack Magda Linette in plenty of the games played on the Linette serve, and that should keep the scoreboard pressure on the lower Ranked player.

Of course it has to be respected that Magda Linette has played a match here meaning having some experience of the conditions, while Mirra Andreeva is playing her first match two weeks. This could mean needing a bit more time to find her feet, but the World Number 7 should have a considerable edge on the serve and that has been the case in the three previous matches on the Tour.

They have not faced one another since the latter part of the 2024 season, but Mirra Andreeva is improved since that match in Beijing which she dominated and she can move through the gears to produce something like a 6-4, 6-2 kind of win in the Second Round here.

Last year Mirra Andreeva was beaten in the Third Round in Doha before winning the title in Dubai and she can make a positive start to her return to the Middle East.

MY PICKS: Amanda Anisimova - 5.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Mirra Andreeva - 5.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Dayana Yastremska - 1.5 Games @ 1.87 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Linda Noskova - 3.5 Games @ 1.75 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Brandon Nakashima - 3.5 Games @ 2.20 William Hill (1 Unit)

Sebastian Korda - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Season 2026: 38-27, + 13.21 Units (131 Units Staked, + 10.08% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2024 (Friday 9th February)

The tennis week has been a mixed one, but there is still an opportunity to finish off with a strong run.

That has to be the aim when the Quarter Finals are played on Friday at the six tournaments being played on both the ATP and WTA Tour.

While it has been a winning week so far, it has not quite been as strong as I would have liked and so there is work to do over this weekend.

Ons Jabeur - 2.5 games v Beatriz Haddad Maia: Winning big matches against Ons Jabeur is never going to be easy for players on the Tour, but the confidence will be behind Beatriz Haddad Maia who did just that at the French Open last year.

The Quarter Final win was the first time the Brazilian had beaten Ons Jabeur and she has played a lot more tennis than the latter this season.

It should mean Beatriz Haddad Maia is in confident mood, even if her Second Round match took almost four hours to be completed. She ultimately rolled through the final set, but there was plenty of emotional and physical energy invested into the win over Magda Linette and Haddad Maia will be hoping she has recovered.

Beatriz Haddad Maia has shown she can find the energy needed even after putting in such a strong effort, but Ons Jabeur was an impressive Second Round winner and looked to be in decent form.

Motivation should be easy to find during this swing through the Middle East and Ons Jabeur will feel she should have beaten Haddad Maia in that Quarter Final loss at the French Open. Winning a Grand Slam is the biggest ambition for Jabeur this season, but she should have enough focus to wear down an opponent that has to have some fatigue issues.

Serving well and getting plenty of first serves in play will be key for the World Number 6 and doing that should help her cover this spread.

Tommy Paul - 2.5 games v Dominik Koepfer: There has been a tournament being played on the hard courts in Dallas and in general the early Rounds have offered unappealing angles.

The Quarter Finals should change that and Tommy Paul has the qualities to get the better of Dominik Koepfer, who has benefited from fine margins landing his way.

No one should dismiss the chances of the German who has won a Challenger title on the hard courts last month and, ultimately, has won two matches to progress through the Dallas Open into this Quarter Final match.

However, Koepfer has lost his last five matches against top 50 Ranked opponents on the hard courts and his numbers over the last twelve months when coming up against some of the best players on the Tour have been disappointing. The lefty serve can be a strength, but Dominik Koepfer has overachieved this week and a player like Tommy Paul should be capable of breaking down that part of his game.

It should mean pressure on the Koepfer return, but he has broken in just 12% of return games played on the hard courts when facing up to top 50 Ranked opponents.

Ben Shelton - 2.5 games v Jordan Thompson: At his best, Jordan Thompson has a serve that can be very dangerous and that allows the Australian to allow scoreboard pressure to build up on his opponents.

He pushed Stefanos Tsitsipas to four sets at the Australian Open, while Jordan Thompson made some headlines by beating Rafael Nadal on his way to the Semi Final in Brisbane.

You have to respect that and his two wins at the Dallas Open will only have increased the confidence, even if those have come against the World Number 829 and 174.

There is a big step up to facing Ben Shelton, who has had a relatively disappointing opening six weeks of the 2024 season.

That is largely compared to the kind of start Shelton would have expected from himself, but he was a clear winner in the Second Round and being back on home soil will certainly inspire the American. Ben Shelton has a massive serve, but he has also found a bit more out of his return game early in the season and that will be encouraging for him.

In two previous matches against Jordan Thompson, Ben Shelton has had a clear edge with holds in 89% of his service games played compared with the Australian's 76% mark. Ben Shelton did have to fight back from dropping the first set when these two met in Tokyo at the end of October, but he was clearly the stronger player on the day and created 11 Break Points compared with just 2 for Jordan Thompson and the home fans can drive Shelton forward for a strong win.

Frances Tiafoe - 1.5 games v Marcos Giron: There was a push into the top 10 of the World Rankings for the first time in June 2023, but it has been a difficult twelve months for Frances Tiafoe.

He looked to have finally figured out how to manage the consistency needed on the Tour, but some of those efforts look to have been forgotten and the World Number 14 has just slipped.

The numbers had improved, but those have not hit the levels of twelve months ago and it has been a disappointing start to 2024.

A win over Alex Michelsen looks solid, but backing that up is the key for Tiafoe when taking on compatriot Marcos Giron.

He was another who made a slow start to 2024, but two strong wins in Dallas will make Marcos Giron feel much better about his tennis. This is another step up in terms of level of opponent, but Giron has to believe he can at least try and exert some pressure with his serve.

Marcos Giron has just gotten a bit more out of his return game too compared with Frances Tiafoe and that may be key, although the latter has the mental edge having won the last three pro meetings between these two Americans.

The win at the US Open in 2022 was a competitive one for Frances Tiafoe, but he did crush Marcos Giron at Indian Wells last year. That will help a player who is perhaps not feeling at his very best and Tiafoe can find a way to win and cover on his way to a Semi Final appearance.

MY PICKS: Ons Jabeur - 2.5 Games @ 1.87 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Tommy Paul - 2.5 Games @ 1.66 Bet365 (2 Units)

Ben Shelton - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Frances Tiafoe - 1.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 5-4, + 0.10 Units (18 Units Staked, + 1% Yield)