Tennis
2025-02-13 - Ons Jabeur vs Jelena Ostapenko
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis: WTA Doha Quarter Final
Thursday 13th February 2025 - Scheduled 7:30pm
4:30pm (British Time)
Preview
Last year was a very difficult year for Ons Jabeur and that has contributed to her slipping down to World Number 35, but the run to the Quarter Final has her trending back in a positive direction.
Plenty of fans will be pushing her to try and win the title in Doha and doing that would see Ons Jabeur move back into the top 20 of the World Rankings. The Tunisian may not be thinking beyond each match, and Jabeur has to be feeling more confident with plenty of wins already on the board in 2025.
This is the third time that Ons Jabeur has played a Quarter Final this season, but she has yet to win one of those matches and that is the pressure she will have to deal with on Thursday. She lost a very tight match in this Round against Elena Rybakina last week in Abu Dhabi, but Ons Jabeur reached that stage with a win over Jelena Ostapenko on the way.
The Latvian is the player across the court from Ons Jabeur again and Jelena Ostapenko will be motivated for revenge having lost a tight, competitive match when the players met in Abu Dhabi last week.
That loss had been a part of a poor start to the season for Jelena Ostapenko who had been 1-4 before the start of this event in Doha. Three wins in a row will have given her a real boost in confidence, while Ostapenko may put her poor start to the season down to some tough opening draws.
Losses against Madison Keys and Belinda Bencic can be put into the context of both of those players winning big tournaments this season and so clearly players in some strong form.
The defeat to Ons Jabeur might have hurt a bit more, but Jelena Ostapenko created more Break Points in that match and both sets played were very close.
Both players are performing well here in Doha, especially behind the first serve and that is going to be important for both Jabeur and Ostapenko.
However, Ons Jabeur has been getting a lot more first serves in play and she has protected her second serve more effectively than Jelena Ostapenko and it could be a decisive factor in the outcome of this Quarter Final.
Allowing too many looks at the second serve could be dangerous for Ons Jabeur, especially knowing how aggressive Jelena Ostapenko can be on the return. Getting the Latvian to try and attack the first serve could lead to plenty of mistakes and Ons Jabeur will be well backed by the fans in the stands in her bid to frank the win that was produced when the players met in Abu Dhabi.
It might come down to one or two points in each set, but Ons Jabeur might be able to get through the stickier moments with a more consistent first serve percentage and that could see her cover this handicap mark set.
Prediction
The favourite is the slightly higher Ranked player in this Quarter Final and can take advantage of the huge fan support to earn a spot in the last four behind a tough, competitive win.
The Pick :
Ons Jabeur 2-0 Jelena Ostapenko
