World number 32 Elise Mertens will be up against the 116th-ranked Cristina Bucsa in the second round of the 2025 WTA Qatar Open which will be played on Tuesday, February 11. Get all the Elise Mertens v Cristina Bucsa predictions, betting tips and odds for this encounter in the section below.
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Elise Mertens v Cristina Bucsa Head to Head
Their only previous meeting came at the China Open last year and Bucsa had won that third round encounter.
Mertens Benefits from Tauson Illness
Elise Mertens has been in some good touch heading into this competition and Clara Tauson’s illness during the match made life easier for the Belgian even more in the first round.
A visibly-struggling Tauson retired from their opener after Mertens had taken the first set 6-0, allowing the world number 32 notch up her 11th win for the season. She has lost just two matches.
With a final appearance at the Hobart International earlier in the season and a title victory in Linz, Mertens was a 3/4 favourite against another in-form player.
And now that she has managed to clinch a second round berth, Mertens has an easier one to follow as she takes on a player who is ranked more than 80 places behind her.
- Get all the remaining WTA Doha Open 2025 betting information here
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Bucsa Stuns Kalinskaya
It’s not been the most memorable season for Anna Kalinskaya and things got worse for her when she fell to a three-set loss at the hands of Cristina Bucsa.
Bucsa had entered the competition here on the back of two first round wins this season – one against Cloe Paquet at the Australian Open and then having defeated Emma Raducanu in Singapore.
A qualifiers loss followed at Abu Dhabi but she defeated Eikeri Ulrikke and Laura Siegemund in straight sets to set up this meeting with Kalinskaya.
And while Kalinskaya threw everything at her, Bucsa triumphed in two hours and 49 minutes and from being a set behind to seal her second round spot.
Can she put up a similar fight here?
Mertens v Bucsa Prediction
Backing the in-form Mertens to earn herself an easy win here, a straight-set one with not more than seven or eight games lost.
Mertens v Bucsa Tips
- Mertens to win in straight sets: 4/5
