World number 12 Daria Kasatkina will take on the 79th-ranked Sorana Cirstea in the first round of the 2025 WTA Dubai Tennis Championships which will be played on Sunday, February 16. Get all the Daria Kasatkina v Sorana Cirstea predictions, betting tips and odds for this encounter in the section below.
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Daria Kasatkina v Sorana Cirstea Head to Head
There have been four previous meetings between these two players with both winning a couple of matches apiece.
Kasatkina went 1-0 in Madrid in 2018 before Cirstea levelled things out in 2019 at the French Open. They met twice again in 2024, at the Abu Dhabi Open which Kasatkina won and in Miami after that where Cirstea made it 2-2.
Kasatkina Fell to Pegula in Doha
Daria Kasatkina is one of those few top players who has played in both the tournaments in the Middle East tennis swing, having featured in Abu Dhabi and Doha so far.
And she enters the third tournament in that list with a 2-2 record in them.
The Russian would have been expected to do better than that having begun the season with a fourth round appearance at the Australian Open. That included a win over Yulia Putintseva as well.
Unfortunately for Kasatkin, she went down to Ashlyn Krueger in the very round in Abu Dhabi and while got herself a start in Doha, it was Jessica Pegula who got the better of her.
Can Kasatkina end this Middle East swing on a high?
- Get all the remaining WTA Dubai Tennis Championships 2025 betting information here
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2024 Semifinalist But Cirstea Needs a Turnaround
She is 34 years old and while she might be some time away from retirement, Sorana Cirstea has been struggling to get going. Which is why the former world number 21 has slipped down to 79th in the world.
In fact it was as recently as the start of the 2024 season when Cirstea was the 26th-ranked player making her results in 2024 and now in 2025 something of a surprise.
This year, Cirstea has featured in four tournaments, in Adelaide, Linz and Cluj-Napoca other than the Australian Open and she has won just one match. That win came against Arantxa Rus while Jule Niemeier, Elina Svitolina, Clara Tauson and Marino Stakusic got the better of her.
What this shows is that Cirstea is finding it tough even against players ranked well outside the top 50 too. And taking on Daria Kasatkina will require a major turnaround in her play.
Kasatkina v Cirstea Prediction
Kasatkina’s recent form has been good enough for her to start off an easy favourite to win this. Straight-set win would be par for the course.
Kasatkina v Cirstea Tips
- Kasatkina to win in straight sets: 4/5
