Dubai Open: Coco Gauf tipped to beat Anna Kalinskaya

American tennis star Coco Gauff barely pulled through against Karolina Pliskova at the 2024 Dubai Championships, but what happens when she faces Anna Kalinskaya?

The Russian is a really interesting tennis player who has been trying to break through properly for many years. Any time she puts together a good run, Kalinskaya either starts to slump or faces other struggles.

It's very frustrating for her because the talent is and was always there, but somehow, things don't seem to work out. She'll have a great chance to book a semi-final at the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai if she beats Gauff.

It's not like the American is playing smashing tennis right now. It kind of depends on the match. She was really good in the first match here in Dubai. She wasn't as good against Pliskova but still won, so this match can go either way.

Interestingly, Gauff and Kalinskaya never played before. The American played in the semi-final in Dubai in 2023 and will get there once more if she wins this match. There is a solid likelihood she does because the matchup does tend to favor her.

Kalinskaya is a skilled baseliner, but she's also quite streaky. She can go up and down quite a bit, and I think in a match like this, the stable nature of Gauff's play should prevail. That is only if she plays a stable match, which, judging by this week's performances, is not a given.

It would have been good to have seen a matchup between them before, but I'll back Gauff simply due to her having a proven track record of actually winning matches like this.

Prediction: Coco Gauff to win in two sets.