2020 Dubai Tennis Championship Odds & Betting Preview: Halep the Favorite

• The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship will start main draw action on Monday, February 17
• Kim Clijsters will face Garbine Muguruza in her first WTA Tour match in more than seven years
• Simona Halep goes into the tournament as the No. 1 seed – read below for our betting prediction

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship is a hard court tournament for both men and women at the Premier level. The tournament’s main draw action will take place February 17-22. Simona Halep comes into the tournament as the No. 1 seed and the favorite to win.

She will receive a bye in the first round. Coming out of retirement, Kim Clijsters has entered the tournament as a wildcard, and will be playing her first round match tomorrow at 10am ET.

2020 WTA Dubai Tennis Championships Odds

Odds taken February 16, 2020.

Kim Clijsters’ Return

One of the most talked about storylines coming into this tournament is Kim Clijsters’ return. She was originally supposed to face No. 6 seed Kiki Bertens in her first round match. But Bertens, who was competing in St. Petersburg has decided to withdraw from this tournament, after she won the final.

Kiki Bertens, who is in the final of St. Petersburg, has withdrawn from Dubai.

Kim Clijsters will now play the 1st match of her comeback against Australian Open finalist Garbiñe Muguruza. https://t.co/XZcz7P4I4s

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) February 16, 2020

Clijsters will now face No. 9 seed Garbine Muguruza in her opening match. Muguruza has one of the best odds to win the tournament outright going into the match. The 36-year-old Clijsters hasn’t played on the tour since the 2012 US Open, and the four-time Grand Slam winner will return as a wildcard.

2020 Dubai Tennis Championships Seeding

Defending Champion

Fourth-seeded Belinda Bencic comes into the tournament looking to defend her championship. The Swiss star will be playing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round. She’s coming off some shaky play in the St. Petersburg Open, where she lost as the first seed in the quarterfinals to Maria Sakkari.

Last year Bencic defeated Petra Kvitova to win the title. Kvitova will not be returning to the tournament this year, and Bencic is still one of the top contenders.

The Favorites

The usual suspects are seeded in this tournament, with Simona Halep leading the crowd as the first seed, as well as the favorite to win the tournament. Halep has been handed a first-round bye, but will have a tough opponent in the second round facing either Alison Riske or Ons Jabeur.

There was no debate on what our shot of the day from Dubai would be today.

Spectacular, @Simona_Halep! pic.twitter.com/PrjL1ooocT

— wta (@WTA) February 19, 2019

Halep and Pliskova will be playing for the first time since the Australian Open. They are sure to do well in this tournament.

Sofia Kenin will be a player to watch out for throughout the tournament. Her odds have varied from book to book, but after her first match, we’ll have a better look as to how she’ll play out.

Best Bet

With five players ranked within the top 10 in the world, it’s going to be an interesting tournament filled with a ton of talent.

Sofia Kenin could go far in this tournament. The young superstar is coming off the biggest win of her career, winning the Australian Open last month. She competed in Dubai last year, so it’s not brand new territory for the young player. And her skills and confidence are at an all-time high.

Some odds are very different depending on the book, though the two that haven’t moved that much, are Halep and Pliskova. They would both be safe, obvious bet coming in.