Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the WTA Doha match.
Daria Kasatkina made a dominant start in Doha, crushing Polina Kudermetova in just 40 minutes. A year ago, she was eliminated from the first round against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, so this marks significant progress. Meanwhile, Elina Avanesyan is not yet at her peak form but has shown that she can compete with elite opponents. In 2023, she defeated Kasatkina on grass and could challenge her again on hard courts.
Daria Kasatkina
Kasatkina started the tournament in style, dismantling Kudermetova (6:0, 6:0), proving once again why she remains one of the best returners on tour. She has won 49.5% of games on opponents' serve this season. Furthermore, she has won 8 of her last 10 matches against Russian players. However, in 2025, 6 of her 11 matches have gone beyond 20 games, and she did lose to Avanesyan last year in three sets (2:6, 6:3, 6:7).
Elina Avanesyan
Although Avanesyan is primarily a clay-court specialist, she has delivered strong performances on hard courts. She has reached at least the third round in 3 of her last 4 WTA 1000 events on hard surfaces. In 10 of her last 12 matches against top-20 opponents, she has won at least one set, showing her ability to compete against elite players. In the first round in Doha, she battled through a gruelling match against Xinyu Wang (7:6, 1:6, 7:6), proving her resilience. However, that match may have taken a toll on her energy levels, and Kasatkina's experience could be a deciding factor.
Daria Kasatkina vs Elina Avanesyan Prediction
Kasatkina is the clear favourite, but this won’t be an easy match. Avanesyan fights hard against top opponents and often wins at least one set. In 8 of Kasatkina’s last 12 hard-court victories, she has conceded at least 13 games. We’ll go with over 19.5 total games.
