See below for our daily tennis tips and best bets around the courts for Friday February 28 in Dubai and Austin, including the top tips and players to back in our tennis betting markets!
Quentin Halys and Felix Auger-Aliassime lock horns in the Dubai Tennis Championships semi-finals – their second clash in little over a week.
Auger-Aliassime fought back in a Round of 32 thriller in Doha to edge Halys 4-6 6-4 7-6.
He now holds a 2-0 lead in the rivalry after winning their initial encounter in Marseille last year.
World No.21 Auger-Aliassime is into his fourth ATP semi-final of the season and is chasing his third title of 2025 already, having won the Adelaide International and Open Occitanie.
This week the Canadian has prevailed in a hat-trick of three-setters against Alexander Bublik, Nuno Borges and a resurgent Marin Cilic.
Halys, ranked 77th, had to battle through two qualifier to make the main draw.
But he’s parlayed the opportunity into an upset of Andrey Rublev – his maiden top-10 win – and victories over Roberto Bautista Agut and Luca Nardi.
This is a huge match for Halys, whose only ATP final appearance was at last year’s Swiss Open.
But big-serving Auger-Aliassime’s recent big-match temperament and ability to ride out tough spots give him a significant advantage here.
ATX Open top seed Jessica Pegula takes on Anna Blinkova in the quarter-finals.
Pegula has a 3-1 record against Blinkova since they first met less than two years ago, but Blinkova won their most recent clash – a sizeable upset at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters.
World No.4 Pegula reached the Adelaide International final but has had mixed results since with losses to Olga Danilovic at the Australian Open, Ekaterina Alexandrova in Doha and Linda Noskova in Dubai.
This week the US Open runner-up has put away Aranxta Rus (6-3 6-2) and Nuria Parrizas-Diaz (6-1 6-3) in typically efficient fashion.
World No.77 Blinkova is 8-5 in 2025, with her most notable win coming against Elina Svitolina at the Linz Open.
So far in Austin she has come from a set down to eliminate Moyuka Uchijima 4-6 6-4 6-0 and easily accounted for Tatjana Maria 6-2 6-2.
Pegula’s a clear head-to-head favourite at $1.17, but this shapes as being a lot closer than the market suggests.
Aussie veteran Ajla Tomljanovic has found some elusive momentum at the ATX Open, where she squares off against Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara in the quarter-finals.
On the back of another injury-hampered period, three-time slam quarter-finalist Tomljanovic was 1-3 in 2025 heading into this week.
But the world No.111 has eliminated seventh seed Katie Volynets (7-6 7-5) and Jodie Burrage (4-6 6-3 6-0) so far.
Twenty-seven-year-old doubles specialist Shibahara only notched her first WTA singles main draw victory last year.
Shibahara had not made the main draw of a tour-level event since the Japan Women’s Open in October, but after beating Lauren Davis and Viktorija Golubic in qualifying, she has made her first quarter-final via wins over Kaja Juvan (2-6 6-3 6-2) and Kim Birrell (6-3 4-6 6-4).
Tomljanovic, the $1.48 favourite, is the better-credentialled performer but a seesawing battle looms here, with Shibahara finding her feet as a singles player.
Daria Saville has rocketed back into form at the Merida Open after a poor start to 2025, finding herself in the quarter-finals against second seed Paula Badosa.
Saville was 0-3 in main draw matches this year, while she lost in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Open, Qatar Open and Dubai Tennis Championships earlier this month.
But after winning a pair of qualifiers here in Akron, the 30-year-old has gone on to stun Ukrainian duo Marta Kostyuk (6-4 7-6), the sixth seed, and Anhelina Kalinina (4-6 6-2 6-2).
World No.11 Badosa reached the Australian Open semi-finals in fine style but has generally struggled for consistency in 2025.
She was upset by Linda Noskova in Abu Dhabi and Amanda Anisimova in Doha, though she was gallant in a three-set loss to Elena Rybakina in Dubai.
Getting a first-round bye here, Badosa chalked up an authoritative Round of 16 win over Jaqueline Cristian (6-2 6-1).
The Spaniard is likely to progress as a $1.13 favourite, but with Saville showing signs of her dangerous best it should be somewhat competitive.