ATP Rotterdam & WTA Qatar 2024 Preview & Predictions + Buenos Aires & Delray Beach Tips
Alcaraz looks set to defend his title in Argentina even as Swiatek and Sinner headline the other tennis tournaments around the ATP and WTA world.
Three ATP and one WTA tournaments will be our showcase from the forthcoming week of tennis at the highest level.
The first of the WTA 1000 tournaments of the 2024 season will be on show as the action shifts to Doha for the Qatar Open. Also in action will be the Rotterdam Open, Argentina Open and Delray Beach Open as many of the top 10 players take to court on both the circuits.
The Qatar Open will be highlighted by the return of World no. 1 Iga Swiatek and World no. 3 Coco Gauff, who will be in action for the first time since the Australian Open.
For the men, there are three tournaments lined up next week.
These include the ATP 500 in Rotterdam and a couple of ATP 250 events in Buenos Aires and Delray Beach.
Below we take a look at who’s playing where and share a few tips and predictions from the four tournaments.
Also if you are interested in getting our free, daily tennis accumulator tips, click here!
Swiatek Eyes Doha Hat-trick
Photo Credit: Hameltion
Can Iga Swiatek make it a hat-trick of titles in Qatar? (read our preview to the Qatar Open here)
The world no. 1 triumphed in 2022 by beating Annett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-0 in the final. She successfully defended that title in 2023, by defeating Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-0 in the title clash.
So the Pole is on an eight-match winning streak in Doha and will be looking to keep that unbeaten streak intact as she aims to defend the title again.
The world no. 1 is off to a 7-1 start in 2024, but will be disappointed after another Australian Open setback.
Swiatek, who won all five of her matches at the United Cup during Poland’s runner-up finish this year, lost to Linda Noskova in the third round of the Melbourne major.
She will be hoping to put that disappointment behind her and come out all guns blazing in Doha, where she could be meeting Gauff in a potential final.
Swiatek, who has a first-round bye, will face either Sorana Cirstea or Sloane Stephens in the second round.
Cirstea is coming off a solid Abu Dhabi display, where she beat Caroline Garcia and Maria Sakkari, before falling to Daria Kasatkina in the quarterfinal.
If she goes past the second round, the top seed could face Ekaterina Alexandrova in a potential third round and eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko in a potential quarterfinal.
Swiatek’s potential semifinal opponent is fourth seed Ons Jabeur, who has had a poor start to 2024, having won just two matches in her previous two tournaments.
The Tunisian faces a potential quarterfinal against seventh seed Maria Sakkari or ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova.
In the bottom half, Australian Open semifinalist Gauff will be strong contender to reach the final.
A quarterfinalist in Doha in 2022 and 2023, the second seed Gauff is 10-1 this year, having won the title in Auckland and lost in the final four stage at the Australian Open.
The second seed Gauff, who has a first-round bye, will face either Donna Vekic or Katerina Siniakova in the second round. If she starts off well, she could face Veronika Kudermetova in a potential third round.
We expect a Gauff vs. Daria Kasatkina quarterfinal. The Russian is in fantastic form this year. She was a finalist in Adelaide and a quarterfinalist in Brisbane.
At the time of writing this preview, she was preparing for a semifinal clash with Beatriz Haddad Maia at the Abu Dhabi Open.
Also keep an eye on fifth seed Qinwen Zheng. The Chinese will be in action for the first time since her runner-up finish at the Australian Open.
We expect her to reach the quarterfinals for a clash with Elena Rybakina. The latter was also in the semifinals in Abu Dhabi at the time of writing.
Qatar Open Predictions
We expect a Swiatek v Sakkari semifinal in the top half. Sakkari has been a semifinalist in the last two editions and was a quarterfinalist in 2021, so expect her to reach the semis for the third consecutive year.
In the bottom half, we expect a Gauff v Rybakina semifinal.
Although Sakkari has a 3-2 edge over Swiatek, the latter has won the last two meetings and is expected to make the final again, where, we think, she would meet the in-form Rybakina and claim her third consecutive title.
Sinner Aims to Stay Unbeaten in 2024
In Rotterdam (preview here), last year’s runner-up Jannik Sinner comes into the tournament as the top seed.
The Italian won his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open this year, beating Daniil Medvedev in the final.
It was Medvedev, who had beaten Sinner in the Rotterdam final last year, but the Russian has withdrawn from this year’s tournament and won’t be defending his title.
The 22-year-old Sinner, who is 7-0 in 2024, is 6-2 in Rotterdam. He will begin his campaign against local hope Botic van de Zandschulp.
His potential road to final may include a second round against Gael Monfils and a quarterfinal against Montpellier open champion and eighth seed Alexander Bublik.
Fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz is also in the top half of the draw and is expected to meet Sinner in the semifinals.
The Polish player was slated to meet Ugo Humbert in the Marseille Open semifinal at the time of writing this preview. Both Hurkacz and Humbert could meet in Rotterdam as well, with a potential quarterfinal meeting on cards.
In the bottom half, 2021 Rotterdam champion Andrey Rublev is the top contender to reach the final, but he faces a tough road to the finals.
If he passes his first-round test against a qualifier, the Russian could meet 2022 champion and 2020 runner-up Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round.
But given the Canadian’s poor form in 2024, Rublev, who is 8-1, is expected to hold the edge in the contest. Rublev won the Hong Kong Open and was a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open, where he lost to Sinner.
The two could be meeting again in the final in Rotterdam.
Rublev is expected to meet fifth seed Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinal. The Russian had beaten the Aussie in the fourth round of the Australian Open in a five-set contest and is expected to hold the edge again in Rotterdam.
Rublev’s potential semifinal opponent will be third seed Holger Rune, who retired from his semifinal clash in Montpellier, while he was on the verge of a straight sets defeat to Borna Coric.
Rotterdam Open Predictions
We don’t see any big surprises in the tournament and expect a Sinner v Rublev final with Sinner winning the title.
The Italian is 5-2 against the Russian and has won the last three meetings, which includes both of their meetings last year, and also their only meeting in 2024 in the Australian Open quarterfinal.
Focus on Alcaraz in Buenos Aires
Photo Credit: si.robi
In Buenos Aires (preview here), the focus will be on world no. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who returns to the clay court tournament as the defending champion.
Alcaraz, who is 4-1 this season, was beaten by Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinal of the Australian Open, the only tournament that he featured in this year.
The Spaniard will however be the favourite in Buenos Aires. Last year, he had beaten Cameron Norrie in the final and this year as well the two could meet in the final as they are the top two seeds in the tournament.
A 12-time champion at the tour level, Alcaraz is 7-3 in clay court finals and is expected to capture his eighth clay court title next Sunday.
Argentina Open Predictions
Alcaraz to win the title
Fritz Aims to Defend Title in Delray Beach
Top seed Taylor Fritz is the defending champion at the Delray Beach Open (preview here).
He is off to a bright start in 2024 having reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and will be the favourite to win the crown once again this year.
Some players who pose a tough challenge to Fritz include second seed Taylor Fritz, third seed Tommy Paul and fourth seed Adrian Mannarino. All three have been in action in Dallas.
While Paul was slated to meet Ben Shelton, Mannarino was scheduled to meet Marcos Giron in the other semifinal in Dallas at the time of writing. Giron had beaten Tiafoe in the quarterfinal.
Delray Beach Open Predictions
In Delray Beach, we expect Fritz to win the title by beating Paul in the final.