Dubai Tennis Championships 2025: Iga Swiatek vs Victoria Azarenka preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick

Match Details

Fixture: (2) Iga Swiatek vs Victoria Azarenka

Date: February 18, 2025

Tournament: 2025 Dubai Tennis Championships

Round: Second round (Round of 32)

Venue: Aviation Club Tennis Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Category: WTA 1000

Surface: Hard (Outdoor)

Prize Money: $3,654,963

Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Sky Sports

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Iga Swiatek vs Victoria Azarenka preview

Iga Swiatek of Poland competes in her semi-final match against Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia during the WTA Qatar TotalEnergies Open 2025 - Source: Getty

2023 Dubai Open finalist and World No. 2 Iga Swiatek will face former World No. 1 and 2010 finalist Victoria Azarenka in the second round of the Dubai Open Championships 2025 on Tuesday, 18 February.

Swiatek received a bye in the first round and has a 12-3 win-loss record in 2025. However, the 23-year-old Pole has not won a title in 2025 yet, after losing in the semifinal of the Australian Open against Madison Keys and tumbling out of the Qatar Open in a semi-final upset at the hands of Jelena Ostapenko.

On the other hand, Victoria Azarenka has a 2-3 win-loss record in 2025. The 35-year-old Belarusian was one game away from losing her fourth consecutive match in the previous round, but somehow managed to make a great comeback.

In the first round against Anhelina Kalinina, she was 2-6, 2-5 down, but Azarenka managed to win it 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4. Last week, she lost the first round against eventual champion Amanda Anisimova in Doha.

Victoria Azarenka reacts while playing against Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine during the first round on Day Two of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships - Source: Getty

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Iga Swiatek vs Victoria Azarenka head-to-head

Iga Swiatek leads Victoria Azarenka 3-1 in their head-to-head record. Azarenka won their first battle at the 2020 US Open whereas Swiatek won the next three meetings in Adelaide, Rome and Doha.

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Iga Swiatek vs Victoria Azarenka odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap bets	Total games
Iga Swiatek	-2000	-1.5 (-450)	Over 17.5 (-105)
Victoria Azarenka	+800	+1.5 (+260)	Under 17.5 (-135)

All odds sourced from BETMGM.

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Iga Swiatek vs Victoria Azarenka prediction

Iga Swiatek has an 8-4 win-loss record at the Dubai Open. She reached the final in 2023 when she lost to Barbora Krejcikova, whereas last year she lost the semifinal against Anna Kalinskaya.

The Pole could lose 380 ranking points if she loses to Victoria Azarenka in the second round, which would increase World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka's lead over her in the rankings. She would be hoping to take advantage of Azarenka's fatigue after a two hour, 55 minute battle in the previous round.

World No. 34 Azarenka is making her sixth appearance in Dubai and has a 9-5 win-loss record. She has won 10 WTA 1000 titles in her career, but her last title came almost five years back in Cincinnati.

By winning her first round match, Azarenka went level with Caroline Wozniacki for most WTA 1000 match wins on hard courts, after obtaining her 158th win. A win against Iga Swiatek would mean that Azarenka will become the player with most WTA 1000 wins on hard court (since the format's introduction in 2009).

Pick: Swiatek to win in three sets