Swiatek vs Kudermetova: prediction for the WTA Doha match
On February 17, Iga Swiatek and Veronika Kudermetova will face each other in the semi-final of Doha tournament. Will Russian player put up a surprise? The answer is in our prediction.

Command Analysis

Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek didn't win a single title since the start of the season. However, Polish player participated only in one single tournament and it was Australian Open, where she got eliminated by Elena Rybakina (4:6, 4:6) in the quarter-final. World No. 1 player also won three of four United Cup matches, representing Polish national team.
Swiatek won the previous edition of Doha tournament, so she is defending a solid amount of ranking points. She started the current competition with a crushing victory over Collins (6:0, 6:1). Iga advanced into the semi-final after Bencic's decision to leave the tournament.

Veronika Kudermetova

Kudermetova got off to a perfect start of Doha tournament. Before that, she has been unable to get past the second round, but now we see her in the semi-final.
World No. 11 player just barely beat Krejcikova (6:4, 3:6, 7:6) in the first round. After that, she secured a victory over Sofia Kenin (6:2, 7:5). In the quarter-final Kudermetova put up a sensation, beating Cori Gauff (6:2, 3:6, 6:1). But now Russian player is facing a tougher challenge - she has to beat the World No. 1 player. Veronika already lost twice to Swiatek in her career and failed to put up a fight in either of these fixtures.
Trends
Ставка Sets performance: 2>1
Four of five latest matches of Swiatek went by that scenario

Ставка 1st set: total under 9.5
This bet played in two latest head-to-head matches

Tip and bets
Swiatek needed to play just one match to reach the semifinals. She left no chance to Collins. Kudermetova, on the other hand, played three incredibly difficult matches. We don't think that Veronika has enough to put up a fight to the best player in the world. She lost both head-to-head matches by more than six games. We are expecting the same result tonight.
Our prediction - Swiatek to win with a handicap of (-4.5) games
Opponents played no more than 18 games in each of two head-to-head matches. Swiatek lost just one game to Collins in her only match at Doha. We are not expecting a long match here.
Our second bet is on total under 19.5 games