Tennis
2026-02-15 - Linda Noskova vs Ann Li
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : WTA 1000 Dubai First Round
Sunday 15th February 2025 - Scheduled 11am
7am (British Time)
Preview
The swing through the Middle East takes in two WTA 1000 events and the second of those begins on Sunday in Dubai.
There are a few Byes littered through the draw, but World Number 12 Linda Noskova will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing run in Doha. She is Seeded low enough to have to begin in the First Round in Dubai, while the 21 year old will be looking to put together some momentum before the big Masters events in North America which are played through March to conclude the first half of the hard court season.
The faster surfaces have been more productive for Linda Noskova over the last twelve months and that will be a reason she will be a little disappointed with her early results.
Linda Noskova continues to serve with some authority, but she has been put under pressure to make sure enough first serves are put into play. That is partly down to the relatively weak returning numbers and that is going to be tested on what have normally been pretty quick hard courts.
Of course that will allow Noskova to get a little more out of the first serve, but her opponent, Ann Li, is going to be very confident of using the conditions to her own advantage.
Her own first serve has proved to be a strong weapon on the hard courts, but Ann Li is perhaps not averaging as many first serves landing as she would like. This has put plenty of pressure on her own second serve and return game and Ann Li has found herself coming up a little short at key moments.
She played well in Doha, which will also give her some confidence, but Ann Li was beaten in a match she would have been favoured to win.
Both players will be looking to contain the threat of the other with the serve, but it does look like Linda Noskova deserves to be given favouritism.
The loss in Doha will have been a blow, but Linda Noskova has been very solid when facing opponents Ranked outside the top 20 on the hard courts over the last twelve months. The numbers back that up, while Ann Li has struggled to impose her tennis on top 20 Ranked opponents on this surface throughout her career and that may be the case in this First Round match in the latest WTA 1000 tournament.
Prediction
The WTA 1000 tournament in Doha was won by Karolina Muchova, but the WTA Tour makes the short hope over to Dubai for another big 1000 event.
The top two players in the World Rankings are not involved, but there are plenty of big names looking to win a big title.
The majority of the First Round matches begin on Sunday and this match looks like one where the higher Ranked player can battle through and win and cover.
The Pick :
Linda Noskova 2-0 Ann Li
