The second WTA 1000 event of the season continues with plenty of exciting action on Monday at WTA Dubai. Mirra Andreeva and Elina Avanesyan met in a thrilling final just before the Olympics last year, now they’re coming up against each other again. Who do you think will win?
WTA Dubai Day 2 Predictions
Eva Lys vs Irina-Camelia Begu
Head-to-head: First meeting
Irina-Camelia Begu had a great comeback last year, but she’s usually much stronger on clay courts. She earned a solid win over Yue Yuan in the final qualifying round and will face another qualifier in Eva Lys here. The German recently broke into the Top 100 after the Australian Open and while she doesn’t have crazy amounts of natural power, she does have the skillset to pressure Begu’s topspin game and make sure that the opponent can’t play her favorite patterns.
Prediction: Lys in 3
Katerina Siniakova vs Marta Kostyuk
Head-to-head: First meeting
Marta Kostyuk was flying under the radar until Doha, not close to the form she was in this time in 2024. But there was nothing quiet about her win against Coco Gauff and she only ended up losing to eventual champion Amanda Anisimova in the quarterfinals. It should give her plenty of confidence here and she’s such a versatile, complete player. Won’t be easy even for someone like Katerina Siniakova to attack the net and mix up pace against her.
Prediction: Kostyuk in 2
Victoria Azarenka vs Anhelina Kalinina
Head-to-head: Azarenka 1-0
Victoria Azarenka is way past her peak, but over the last few years she was still keeping herself among the world’s elite. It kind of remains to be tested if she’s capable of this with her start of the year looking rough. But she was unlucky to run into Amanda Anisimova in the opening round in Doha last week. Anhelina Kalinina is pretty mercurial and this might be Azarenka’s chance to get back to winning ways. Better opportunities will come, but not necessarily all that soon.
Prediction: Azarenka in 3
Mirra Andreeva vs Elina Avanesyan
Head-to-head: Andreeva 2-0
This should be a chess match on a tennis court, both players are so intelligent and have many different ways of constructing a point. Elina Avanesyan almost beat Mirra Andreeva in the Iasi final last year and it’s clear that the Russian for now struggles with opponents who make her force the issue and don’t go all-out attack against her. It will probably be another difficult encounter, but the young superstar is the slight favorite even in a tactical clash like this.
Prediction: Andreeva in 3
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
