Tennis
2026-02-10 - Tereza Valentova vs Karolina Muchova
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : WTA 1000 Doha Second Round
Tuesday 10th February 2025 - Scheduled 5pm
2pm (British Time)
Preview
There is always some kind of pecking order in tennis and two players from the same nation will be well aware of where they stand in that order.
18 year old Tereza Valentova is making her way into the WTA Tour and she has entered the top 50 of the World Rankings, while she reached the Third Round at the Australian Open last month before losing to eventual Champion Elena Rybakina.
This is still the early stages of her career and that has meant Tereza Valentova has had to win a couple of Qualifiers to earn her spot in the main draw in Doha. However, all credit has to be given to the teenager for winning those two matches before crushing her way past Alexandra Eala in the First Round.
Being comfortable in the conditions will give Valentova an edge, but she is facing a well known figure in Czechia tennis circles and a current top 20 Ranked player.
Karolina Muchova has a win over Elena Rybakina under her belt, but that was in Brisbane rather than Melbourne, while the only two losses suffered on the hard courts in 2026 have been against Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff. The World Number 19 was a comfortable First Round winner here in Doha and Karolina Muchova has long been a consistent force on this surface, as well as having all court skills that makes her a tough out on the clay and grass courts too.
The serve is an important weapon for Karolina Muchova, while she is someone who can get up to the net and show off some of her volleying skills.
The real test here is whether Tereza Valentova can produce the level needed to take on one of the better players on the Tour and someone she would likely have followed as she was getting closer and closer to turning professional.
Tereza Valentova has played three hard court matches against top 20 Ranked opponents over the last twelve months and all have ended in relatively comfortable defeats. Two of those losses have been against Elena Rybakina, while the other has been against Madison Keys, but Valentova has a dangerous first serve and it will be important for her to get plenty of those into play to try and put some pressure on Karolina Muchova.
Another test will be getting a bit more out of the return of serve, but the youngster is still learning and this could be another somewhat painful lesson.
Prediction
The experience and the aura should be with the higher Ranked player against a compatriot and Karolina Muchova can use that to earn a Break more in each set to cover this spread.
The Pick :
Tereza Valentova 0-2 Karolina Muchova
