Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the WTA Doha match.
Veronika Kudermetova enters the WTA Doha tournament in significantly better form than a year ago. Her performance at the Australian Open showed that she is back to playing at a high level. Meanwhile, Magda Linette has had an underwhelming start to the season, lacking match practice, which could affect her consistency in this encounter.
Veronika Kudermetova
Last year was disappointing for Kudermetova, but in 2025, she has won 69% of her matches and has already broken into the top 50. She has been strong against top-50 opponents, winning three of her last five encounters. In Doha, she has already defeated Sara Errani (6:4, 6:1) and fellow Russian Erika Andreeva (6:1, 6:7, 6:3), impressing with her first-serve dominance, winning over 70% of points on it. Her serve has been a real weapon, hitting at least five aces in four of her last five matches.
Magda Linette
The Polish player has struggled for consistency in 2025. A key weakness is her poor performance on break points – in her last five matches, she has saved just 35% of break points (12 out of 34). Additionally, Linette lacks a powerful serve, which makes her dependent on extended rallies. Against Russian opponents, Linette has been competitive, recording 10+ games in four of her last six matches. She is likely to put up a fight in this match as well.
Veronika Kudermetova vs Magda Linette Prediction
Kudermetova holds a clear advantage in terms of power, first serve, and break-point conversion. Linette’s passive style and struggles on serve should allow the Russian to dictate play. However, the Polish player tends to push top-50 opponents into lengthy battles, consistently winning 10+ games.