Tennis
2026-02-12 - Victoria Mboko vs Elena Rybakina
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : WTA 1000 Doha Quarter Final
Thursday 12th February 2025 - Scheduled 6pm
3pm (British Time)
Preview
After coming through a match in which she had to Break serve to avoid losing, Victoria Mboko may feel she is playing with house money.
Beating Elena Rybakina in a big event is something that Victoria Mboko has already achieved in her young career when coming from behind to earn a Semi Final victory over this opponent in the Montreal Semi Final last year. That was also in a WTA 1000 event, but Victoria Mboko was beaten either side of that win in Washington and Tokyo and she has been second best in all three matches.
The youngster is plenty talented and Victoria Mboko continues to get on the front foot when the first serve lands, which has led to plenty of points won.
However, this is a player who has seen her numbers decline in each of the last three wins in Doha and Mboko has just had one or two issues dealing with the return of serve without having played someone like the Australian Open Champion.
Elena Rybakina also needed three sets to win her match to reach the Quarter Final, but she has played one fewer match in Doha compared with Victoria Mboko and there is a real confidence around this player.
The World Number 3 has kept the pressure on opponents with her very strong serving performances over the last several months. That is going to be important for Elena Rybakina again and she has had a considerable edge in the three previous matches against Victoria Mboko with all taking place on the hard courts.
This is a big spread when you think of some of the inconsistency that Elena Rybakina has put on the board when it comes to the return of serve, but she will have the edge if she sees enough second serves in this match and that can see her find a way to edge past this number set.
Prediction
Lay the games with the Australian Open Champion as Elena Rybakina perhaps takes another step towards another big title in 2026.
The Pick :
Victoria Mboko 0-2 Elena Rybakina
