Doha Betting Preview: Will Iga Swiatek win a fourth straight Qatar TotalEnergies Open?

The Super Bowl isn’t the only sporting event people need to have on their radars this Sunday. It will also mark the start of the first 1000-level WTA event of the season, the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha.

Iga Swiatek, who has won this tournament three years in a row, headlines a loaded draw, which also features Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and pretty much any other big name you can think of.

Fresh off a run to the Australian Open semifinals, Swiatek will be eager to lift this trophy again. Given how well she played in Melbourne, it’s hard to doubt her. But this is a hard-court tournament, so Sabalenka is going to like her chances. And you can never rule out a deep run from Gauff, Rybakina and several other players.

Regardless of who ends up in the winner’s circle, we can’t wait to see how this thing plays out. Throughout the event, we’ll be serving up our favorite picks of the day. However, it’s always good to dive into previous results, court conditions and recent form before a tournament. Let’s get into all of it with our Qatar TotalEnergies Open betting preview.

Previous Qatar TotalEnergies Open Champions

• 2020: Aryna Sabalenka
• 2021: Petra Kvitova
• 2022: Iga Swiatek
• 2023: Iga Swiatek
• 2024: Iga Swiatek

Qatar TotalEnergies Open Betting Odds

• Aryna Sabalenka (+275)
• Iga Swiatek (+400)
• Coco Gauff (+500)
• Elena Rybakina (+800)
• Qinwen Zheng (14-1)
• Mirra Andreeva (20-1)
• Paul Badosa (28-1)
• Jessica Pegula (28-1)
• Jasmine Paolini (28-1)
• Emma Navarro (30-1)

(For the rest of the odds, head over to DraftKings Sportsbook)

Qatar TotalEnergies Open Conditions

While this is a hard-court tournament, it doesn’t play like many others. The conditions in Doha are extremely slow, the ball bounces high and the wind can occasionally be out of control. Considering all of that, this tournament can be quite gritty—a reason why Swiatek has won this tournament three years in a row. So, while powerful players can absolutely have success in Doha, it is important to keep in mind that defending the baseline at a high level can be very valuable in this tournament.

Qatar TotalEnergies Open Players To Watch

Ons Jabeur (40-1): Jabeur put up a great fight in a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4) loss to Rybakina in the Abu Dhabi quarterfinals, and the Tunisian is starting to look a lot like the player that made it to three Grand Slam finals between 2022 and 2023. To start the 2025 season, Jabeur is 8-4 in WTA-level matches, including wins over Danielle Collins and Jelena Ostapenko.

Jabeur’s break percentage is an outrageous 39.8% through 12 matches, so she’s consistently getting into her opponent’s service games. The Tunisian just hasn’t been able to win points behind her first serve, doing so just 65.0% of the time. When she was at her best, that number was a little closer to 70. But Jabeur is making more first serves (60.2%) than she has in any year in her career, so it feels like it’s only a matter of time before she starts to figure things out. She needs to just be a little better about hitting ambitious targets, either setting up unreturnable shots or putting her in positions for serve-plus-ones. Once she does, she’s going to start to be a consistent presence late in tournaments.

Jabeur should also benefit from the court speeds in Doha. While 2024 was a down season for her, she played her best tennis on clay. Well, these slow, unpredictable hard courts should favor that same skill set. Jabeur is also in a somewhat reasonable quarter. A second-round meeting with Zheng would be tough, but it’s not crazy to think that Jabeur’s best tennis would be enough there. Her peak Elo rating is actually slightly higher than Zheng’s, so we’re going to find out quickly whether Jabeur is fully back.

Clara Tauson (50-1): Tauson has a brutal draw, as she’ll presumably face Elise Mertens and Anna Kalinskaya in her first two matches. Then, a third-round matchup with Sabalenka awaits. But Tauson is 10-2 since the start of the 2025 season, and you’d be hard pressed to name five players that have looked better than the 22-year-old this year. Tauson is racing through her service games and hitting the ball extremely clean from the baseline. The latter is a nightmare for opponents, as Tauson has the ability to go big from both wings.

It’s also not exactly a deathblow for Tauson if she does face Sabalenka. When these two met at the Australian Open, the Belarusian barely hung on in a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory. Realistically, Tauson has the ability to be a Top 10 player at some point soon. Let’s see what she can do on this big stage.

Qatar TotalEnergies Open Pick To Win

Iga Swiatek (+400): Heading into this tournament with the expectations of winning four straight should be good practice for Swiatek, as she’ll be doing the same thing at Roland Garros this year. I am a little concerned about how the Pole will compartmentalize all of that, as she can be an anxious player at times. However, it’s hard not to like her to ultimately find another way to win in Doha.

Swiatek played lights-out tennis on the quicker courts in Melbourne a couple of weeks back. She was just unfortunate to run into a scorching hot Madison Keys. But it was clear that some of the early work Swiatek has done with new coach Wim Fissette paid off, as the Pole has never looked better at the Australian Open. And now the 23-year-old is heading to an event in which the conditions perfectly suit her.

Sabalenka is undoubtedly the best hard-court player in the world right now, but that’s on traditional, quick hard courts. Swiatek will continue to be the queen of the slow stuff, and we saw that when the Pole won a title in Indian Wells last season.