See below for our daily tennis tips and best bets around the courts for Wednesday February 19 at the WTA Dubai and ATP Doha tournaments, including the top tips and players to back in our tennis betting markets!
Belinda Bencic has been one of the WTA’s form players in 2025 after returning from a maternity break and will throw down the gauntlet to world No.9 Emma Navarro in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Former world No.4 Bencic is steaming back up the rankings after reaching the Round of 16 at the Australian Open and winning the Abu Dhabi Open.
She’s already claimed the scalps of slam winner Jelena Ostapenko, Marketa Vondrousova and Elena Rybakina this season.
The Swiss demolished Aoi Ito 6-0 6-2 in the first round in Dubai, winning 81 percent of her first-serve points.
Navarro, who had a first-round bye here, was impressive in reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals – beating Ons Jabeur and Daria Kasatkina before running into Iga Swiatek – but was trounced 6-2 6-2 by Leylah Fernandez in last week’s Qatar Open.
Bencic may seem a little short as a $1.35 favourite against a top-10 opponent, but it’s a reflection of the level she is playing at and it’s hard to see Navarro halting her charge.
It’s a top-10 showdown in the Dubai Tennis Championships’ Round of 16 as sixth seed Elena Rybakina and ninth seed Paula Badosa come together for the eighth time.
Badosa holds a 4-3 advantage in the rivalry, but Rybakina won the last two clashes – at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters in 2023.
Rybakina lost to Madison Keys in the fourth round of the Australian Open, Belinda Bencic in the Abu Dhabi Open semis and Iga Swiatek in last week’s Qatar Open quarters.
She cruised past Moyuka Uchijima 6-3 6-2 in the first round here but is yet to beat a top-30 opponent in 2025.
Badosa beat Marta Kostyuk and Coco Gauff on her way to the Australian Open semis – going down to Aryna Sabalenka – but went down heavily to Linda Noskova first up in Abu Dhabi and lost to Amanda Anisimova in the Qatar Open’s Round of 32 after battling past Renata Zarazua in three.
The Spaniard has regrouped in Dubai, however, eliminating Lulu Sun (6-3 6-4) and Elise Mertens (6-2 6-1).
Rybakina was the runner-up here in 2020 but on current form Badosa holds more appeal as a $2.50 outsider.
Alex de Minaur made short work of Botic Van de Zandschulp at the Australian Open and is looking to do the same in the second round of the Qatar Open.
World No.8 de Minaur put away the Dutchman 6-1 7-5 6-4 in the first round in Melbourne last month, having won a much tighter affair in their only other clash at the 2022 Davis Cup.
De Minaur is 9-2 on tour this season after reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time and making it to his second straight Rotterdam Open final, losing to big guns Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, respectively.
The Aussie livewire overwhelmed Roman Safiullin 6-1 7-5 in the first round yesterday.
Ranked 87th, Van de Zandschulp won a pair of qualifiers before outlasting relative unknown Abedallah Shelbayh 7-5 6-3.
That result was a welcome boost after going 0-5 so far in main draw matches in 2025 (though he took a set off Alcaraz in Rotterdam and Lorenzo Sonego in Montpellier), but it is unlikely to be enough to trouble ‘Demon’.
After returning from a hip complaint with a win over Alexei Popyrin, Qatar Open eighth seed Jack Draper has another Aussie in his sights in the form of journeyman Christopher O’Connell
O’Connell can take confidence from their head-to-head so far, winning their two encounters at a 2019 Challenger event and a 1-6 6-3 6-2 comeback in the first round of the 2024 Indian Wells Masters.
World No.16 Draper retired in the fourth round of the Australian Open against Carlos Alcaraz – his only previous tournament in 2025 – but looked to have shaken off his injury woes as he put away Popyrin 6-2 7-5.
O’Connell, ranked 82nd, battled through qualifying against Yosuke Watanuki and Pavel Kotov, before grafting out a 7-6 7-6 victory over Hady Habib in the first round.
The 30-year-old lost few admirers in an epic five-set defeat to world No.12 Tommy Paul in the first round of the Australian Open.
Expect O’Connell to be provide similarly troublesome opposition for Draper in this one.