Veronika Kudermetova will face Anhelina Kalinina in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships. The match will start on February 20 at 08:00 UK time.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Handicap (-3) for Kudermetova – 1.616.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #2 – Total Games Under 23 – 1.54.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #3 – 1st Set Games Under 9.5 – 1.635.
Two years ago, Kudermetova defeated Kalinina at Linz Open. We think Veronika will be stronger today as well. The Russian tennis player has played much better since the Australian Open, notable for her victories over tough opponents last week and on top of that, she is defending some decent ranking points in Dubai. Anhelina is clearly far from her peak as evidenced by her recent losses to Friedsam and Davis.
Given Kalinina’s less-than-optimal form, we don’t expect tonight’s match to be a long one. Moreover, Anhelina in four of the five matches she has lost since the beginning of the year has not featured in winning sets.
Veronika Kudermetova will have to defend her ranking points for last year’s final in Dubai. The tennis player has been active in the post-Australian Open portion of the season.
Veronika reached the semi-finals at Doha last week.
On the one hand, a decent result, but the overall impression was spoilt by the unpleasant defeat from Iga Swiatek.
The Russian was defeated by the Polish player with a score of 0-6, 1-6.
Obviously, Kudermetova was not strong enough to play against the world #1. Before that, she had difficult matches against Barbora Krejcikova (6-4, 3-6, 7-6), Sofia Kenin (6-2, 7-5) and Corey Gauff (6-2, 3-6, 6-1).
Last year, Kudermetova reached the final in Dubai.
Veronika Kudermetova has won eight of her last nine matches as a favourite.
Anhelina Kalinina had a decent showing at the Australian tournaments in January. She reached the quarter-finals in Hobart and the third round of the Australian Open. However, she was unable to build on her successes.
Anhelina won one match at the beginning of February in Linz, Austria. After beating American Alycia Parks (6-2, 7-5), she unexpectedly lost to Anna-Lena Friedsam (6-3, 7-5).
In Doha, Kalinina’s performance was even worse. Here, she failed to qualify, losing to American Lauren Davis (5-7, 6-7).
However, Kalinina has had more than just setbacks this year. In January, she reached the quarter-finals in Hobart and won two matches at the Australian Open. In Melbourne, the Ukrainian stopped former world #1 Petra Kvitova (7-5, 6-4) in the second round.
In four of Anhelina Kalinina’s last five matches against better-ranked opponents, more than 10 games have been played.
Type of Court – Hard
Speed of Court – 8/10
Veronika Kudermetova’s Rating – 11
Veronika Kudermetova Wins/Losses in 2023 – 10/5
Anhelina Kalinina’s Rating – 33
Anhelina Kalinina Wins/Losses in 2023 – 7/5
In Kudermetova’s three previous matches, less than 9.5 games have been played in the first set. We offer to bet on “1st Set Games Under 9.5” with odds of 1.635.
Kudermetova leads with a score of 1-0 in the head-to-head encounters. The only time they met was at the Linz Open in 2021. In that match, Kudermetova defeated Kalinina (4-6, 6-4, 6-2) in three sets.
The match will be played in Court 1, Aviation Club Tennis Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
We recommend checking out the odds for the Dubai Tennis Championships: Veronika Kudermetova vs Anhelina Kalinina at 1xBet and VBET.