Elena Rybakina made the final at the WTA 1000 in Doha last year and as she hasn’t claimed a title since April; it’s high-time for her to return to the winner’s circle. The opening match of her 2025 campaign sees her taking on Peyton Stearns. Who do you think will come out on top?<\/p>\n
Head-to-head:<\/strong> Putintseva 1-0<\/p>\n Linda Noskova has been really strong during this Middle Eastern swing and produced a very dominant win over Paula Badosa on the way to the Abu Dhabi semifinals. She’s also not slowing down here, taking out Donna Vekic in the opening round. But this isn’t a matchup the Czech enjoys, Yulia Putintseva’s gritty counter-punching is usually a great invitation for errors from more attacking opposition. Noskova might have to come up with something special here. Head-to-head:<\/strong> Zheng 2-0<\/p>\n Qinwen Zheng dominated her previous two meetings with Ons Jabeur, but things might not be so simple for her this time around. She hasn’t played in almost a month since suffering a surprising exit to Laura Siegemund at the Australian Open<\/a>, while Jabeur is finally healthy and firing on all cylinders. The Tunisian is in a really good rhythm at the moment and should be able to take the game to Zheng, trying to abuse her more one-dimensional game. She might pull this off.
\nPrediction: Putintseva in 3<\/em><\/p>\nQinwen Zheng vs Ons Jabeur<\/h4>\n
\nPrediction: Jabeur in 3<\/em><\/p>\n