Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Elise Mertens Preview & Prediction | 2026 Qatar Open | First Round

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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova meets Elise Mertens in Qatar.

Ranking points: WTA 1000

Start date/time:

Venue: Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, Doha, Qatar

Surface: Outdoor hard

How to watch on TV: UK – Sky Sports Tennis / USA – Tennis Channel

How to watch online: UK – Sky Go / USA – Tennis Channel

Tickets: Visit this link for the latest Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Elise Mertens ticket information

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Elise Mertens prediction

Elise Mertens will hope to end her Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova hoodoo in Qatar.

The Belgian trails 3-1 in the head-to-head and has lost to the Russian across all three surfaces.

Indeed, the 16th seed’s solitary success was in their first encounter back in 2017 but she is in far greater form than her opponent right now, and if she is to get the better of the world number 100, you would expect it to be here.

Pavlyuchenkova has lost all three matches in 2016 and has only won one of her last nine after making a limited number of outings since reaching the Wimbledon quarter finals.

 In contrast, Mertens looks in fine fettle with her only losses so far this year coming against high-flyers like Belinda Bencic and Elena Rybakina.

You sense Pavlyuchenkova’s bad run won’t last forever once she gets her match sharpness back and if she’s going to strike a blow it may be against an opponent she has enjoyed great success against.

It could be worth a punt on her taking a set given the head-to-head but all the other factors point towards Elise coming through.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Elise Mertens tip: Elise Mertens to win