Liudmila Samsonova vs Jessica Pegula Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Dubai Tennis Championships

Prediction published on 17/01/2025, 00:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 16/02/2025 at 16:37 in Tennis Predictions

Fifth seed Jessica Pegula faces unseeded Liudmila Samsonova in round two of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Pegula received a bye in the first round of this outdoor hard court WTA 1000 tournament. Here's our match prediction.

The American is fifth in the rankings but only 11th in the WTA Live Race. That's 21 places above Samsonova. Pegula has reached one final this year, losing in Adelaide to Madison Keys who's not playing in this tournament. Her last appearance in Dubai was in 2023, losing in the last four.

Last week saw Pegula reach the last eight in Doha. This is her fifth match against Samsonova and she leads 3-1 with both of her hard court matches against the Russian won. Samsonova's only victory was four years ago on grass.

Liudmila Samsonova  is 25th in the live rankings and had a straight sets win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in round one. Before that win she had lost three of her last four matches. That Adelaide tournament where Pegula reached the final also saw Samsonova get to the semi-finals.

It's not gone so well since then with her not getting past the second round. Last week saw her beaten by eventual runner-up in Doha, Jelena Ostapenko. This is another tough draw and we tip Pegula to win.