Qinwen Zheng will be looking for a bounce-back after what has been a disappointing start to the campaign. She is 1-2 for the year, going out early at both the Aussie and Qatar Opens.
2025 WTA Tour
WTA 1000
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Aviation Club Tennis Centre, Dubai, UAE (Outdoor Hardcourts)
Selected Round of 32 Matches- 18th February
She lost plenty of rankings points in Melbourne, failing to defend the points she gained in her heroic runner-up effort last year. She was soundly beaten by Jabeur in Qatar and is in desperate need of a solid performance. Zheng came from virtually nowhere to enjoy a stunning breakout campaign last season, finishing runner-up at the Aussie Open and going on to win Olympic Gold in Paris (beating Swiatek on the red clay). She won further titles in Palermo and Japan and ended the season in resounding fashion, finishing runner-up in Wuhan before an exceptional runner-up finish at the WTA Finals. Zheng is clearly an astute hardcourt operator who understands what it takes to perform at WTA 1000 level (she also reached the quarters here last season). She just really needs to work on that serve. Usually one of her strongest weapons. Zheng has struggled to gain rhythm on her own delivery, losing more than 50% off all service points in her last outing against Jabeur.
Peyton Stearns will look to draw some confidence from compatriot Amanda Anisimova’s success in Qatar last week. Stearns battled past Ons Jabeur in her first-round clash, grinding out a 7-6, 6-4 win. Stearns showed some guts in that first set, coming back from a late break to force a tiebreak in the first set. She then had to withstand a bit of a barrage from Jabeur in the 2nd (this despite the fact that the Tunisian was clearly dealing with fitness issues). In any event, the 2022 NCAA singles champion stuck to her gameplan: serve well and look to dominate with the forehand. She won 70% of her first-serve points against Jabeur and will look for a similar outcome here. The win against Jabeur improved Stearns’ year-to-date record to 4-5. Stearns won her maiden tour title in Rabat last year. She also reached the quarterfinal of the Canadian Open (highlighting her capacity to cause damage in a WTA 1000 hardcourt event).
The Verdict: Stearns to win in three at 2.95- This will be their first career meeting. This could be tighter than many people are anticipating. Zheng has been poor this season and Stearns could exploit her vulnerability on serve. Stearns was exceptional on return against Jabeur, creating eleven break-points in the match.
Aryna Sabalenka (1) 0.13 vs Veronika Kudermetova 4.8
World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka will look bounce back after what was an uncharacteristically poor outing in Qatar. The Belarusian- making her first appearance since that heartbreaking Aussie Open
final defeat to Madison Keys- capitulated in Qatar, throwing away a one-set lead against the flat-hitting Alexandrova. A winner of two Grand Slam titles last season, Sabalenka will be looking to rediscover that aura of invincibility this week. She has already been victorious this season (she won her season-opening event in Brisbane). She curiously doesn’t possess a great record in Dubai (this is one of three active WTA 1000 event in which she is yet to reach a semifinal). These Dubai courts are relatively sluggish and probably don’t do justice to her gargantuan hitting power. Can she overcome her poor Dubai form and emerge victorious this week?
Former top ten player Veronika Kudermetova is looking to rebound after a difficult 2024 campaign. She started the year well enough, following an early exit in Brisbane with a quarterfinal run in Hobart. She then enjoyed a bit of a Grand Slam renaissance, beating Beatriz Haddad Maia and Katie Boulter en route to a round of 16 finish at the Aussie Open. It seemed as if the big-serving Russian was slowly starting to rediscover her form. But Abu Dhabi would turn out to be a real momentum killer. She made it through qualifying before taking out 5th seed Liudmila Samsonova in the round of 32. But she was humbled in her round of 16 clash with Belinda Bencic, handed a dreaded double-bagel (she only won 38% of her first-serve points). It was a chastening defeat that will have had some effect on the old ego. She was also eliminated in the fist round in Qatar, with Magda Linette coming back from a one-set deficit to triumph in three. But she has looked far more composed in Dubai, coming through qualifying before taking down Qatar surprise package Ekaterina Alexandrova in three sets. She served brilliantly against her fellow Russian, serving nine aces and not committing a single double-fault.
The Verdict: Sabalenka to win in straight sets at 0.39- Sabalenka leads a surprisingly tight head-to-head 3-2. In fact, Kudermetova has won each of their last two meetings (at the 2022 and 2023 Berlin Opens). But this is an entirely different proposition. Sabalenka is the best hardcourt player in the world and Kudermetova has been bagled three times in recent weeks. Perhaps opting for under 18.5 games at 1.15 will be the way to extract some value.
