Defending champion Jelena Ostapenko will have her work cut out in Dubai this week as a star-studded cast has assembled in the United Arab Emirates for the prestigious Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, a WTA 1000 event on the Middle Eastern swing of the 2023 tennis calendar.
But Ostapenko doesn’t register among the top favorites as she prepares for her title defense campaign. That domain belongs to World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who are the bookies’ top two favorites as they lead the charge from opposing ends of the 64-player draw.
After this top tandem, American Jessica Pegula, Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, American Coco Gauff and France’s Caroline Garcia round out the Top 5 best-priced bets.
Read on as we preview the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships alongside the up-to-date tennis betting futures powered by BetUS.
Let’s check the latest Tennis picks, stats, injury reports, and Tennis predictions. We’ve got plenty of Tennis expert picks for you to consider.
WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Odds
- Iga Swiatek +170
- Aryna Sabalenka +400
- Jessica Pegula +1100
- Elena Rybakina +1200
- Coco Gauff +1800
- Caroline Garcia +1800
- Belinda Bencic +2000
- Maria Sakkari +2500
- Veronika Kudermetova +2800
- Barbora Krejcikova +2800
- Beatriz Haddad Maia +3000
- Jelena Ostapenko +4000
- Danielle Collins +4000
- Victoria Azarenka +4000
- Qinwen Zheng +5000
- Marketa Vondrousova +5000
- Liudmila Samsonova +5000
- Karolina Pliskova +5000
- Karolina Muchova +5000
- Petra Kvitova +5000
- Daria Kasatkina +5000
- Amanda Anisimova +5000
- Marta Kostyuk +6500
- Madison Keys +6500
- Paula Badosa +6500
- Bianca Andreescu +6500
- Marie Bouzkova +8000
- Anastasia Potapova +10000
- Sofia Kenin +10000
- Linda Fruhvirtova +10000
Swiatek Flush Off First Title in 2023
Swiatek is coming off her first title of the season in Doha, beating Pegula in the final of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open 6-3, 6-0.
The 21-year-old Pole seemingly threw down the gauntlet in a renaissance week after her Australian Open sojourn was surprisingly cut short last month (lost in the fourth round to Elena Rybakina). While she did get a walkover in the second round (Belinda Bencic withdrew due to fatigue), she nevertheless reeled off three dominant straight-set wins on the way to her 12th career title.
The World No. 1 dropped a combined two games in her first two matches – beating both Danielle Collins and Veronika Kudermetova by a scoreline of 6-0, 6-1. Pegula managed to take three games off Swiatek in the final, but the American couldn’t avoid the bagel in the end either.
Last season, Swiatek’s record-setting 37-match win streak began in Qatar and took her to six consecutive titles – including the Sunshine Double and the French Open title (her second career French Open triumph). Is it any wonder that her tremendous performance in Doha, dropping just five games over a successful title defense campaign, has many wondering whether she is on the verge of another incredible run.
Sensational IGA 🏆🇵🇱
The moment @iga_swiatek captured her 12th WTA title!#QatarTennis pic.twitter.com/P3DzMbQgGW
— wta (@WTA) February 18, 2023
Swiatek, Player To Beat
It’s hard to argue against Swiatek’s status as the tournament favorite and the player to beat at the sportsbook exchange. Swiatek has shown exactly what she is capable of when she’s on such tremendous form and that has gone a long way to underscoring her favorable tennis odds (+170) to win the title in Dubai.
The only other player that is close to Swiatek in the betting is Sabalanke (+400), the reigning Australian Open champion.
The 24-year-old Belarussian is seeking her third title of the season and brings a stellar 11-0 record to Dubai. She hasn’t played since winning her maiden Grand Slam title, so rust could be a factor.
The rest of the field of contenders are priced in quadruple digits, beginning with Pegula at +1100. Gauff and Garcia round out the Top 5 best bets (both priced at +1800) while in-form players such as Bencic and Beatriz Haddad-Maia are found trading upwards of +2000.
The draw is OUT for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
R1 🇨🇦🎾matchups:
🇨🇦Bianca Andreescu vs. 🇰🇿Elena Rybakina
🇨🇦Leylah Fernandez vs. qualifierCheck out the full draw below#DDFtennis pic.twitter.com/0leZwrYWMr
— Match Point Canada (@MatchPointCAN) February 18, 2023
Swiatek, Spearheads Top Half of the Draw
With all top 8 seeds receiving a bye into the second round, Swiatek will begin her campaign on Tuesday, giving her a few days to rest up after playing in Qatar.
Swiatek spearheads a loaded top half of the draw, which includes a slew of top contenders, including No. 5 seed Coco Gauff (+1800), No. 4 seed Carolina Garcia (+1800) and No. 6 seed Maria Sakkari (+2500).
Interspersed within this section are other legitimate contenders, such as Australian Open runner-up Elena Rybakina (+1200) and Veronika Kudermetova (+2800) and Top 20 threats such as Liudmila Samsonova (+5000) and Victoria Azarenka (+4000).
The dangerous floaters in the top half include former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu (+6500), former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin (+10000) and former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova (+5000)
Sabalenka, Headlines Bottom Half Of the Draw
Sabalenka headlines a bottom half of the draw that is stacked with stumbling blocks, including defending champion Ostapenko (+4000).
The highest-seeded threat in this section is Pegula (+1100). No. 7 seed Daria Kasatkina (+5000) and Abu Dhabi champion and No. 8 seed Bencic (+2000) also fall into this section.
Barbora Krejcikova (+2800), Haddad-Maia (+3000) and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova (+5000) are dangerous floaters that could emerge as contenders.
The longshots that could shake things up include Linda Fruhvirtova (+10000), Shelby Rogers and Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship Best Bets
Serving up three bagels while conceding just five games to some of the best players in the women’s game is nothing to sniff at. Thus, Swiatek as the +170 favorite is the best bet until proven otherwise.
Sabalenka is yet to lose a match this season, but seeing as she hasn’t played since winning the Australian Open, she’s a risky play. Her draw is not a walk in the park either.
Pegula has been the most consistent player after Sabalenka, and while her demoralizing loss to Swiatek takes the shine off of her betting online odds, she’s shown that she can bounce back quickly. Hence, as the +1100 bet, she’s worth a flutter at the very least.
Other top contenders to consider are Garcia at +1800 and the in-form Bencic at +2000. While outsiders to pay close attention to include Linda Fruhvirtova and Qinwen Zheng. They might not win the title, but they could deliver an upset or two along the way.
