The ATP and WTA Tours are currently in full swing, as the women are playing a 1000-level event in Dubai and the men are competing in 500-level tournaments in Doha and Rio de Janeiro — and the field in the Delray Beach 250 also happens to be loaded. With that in mind, we have a lot to cover over the next couple of days. I’ll be writing up my tennis best bets from Monday to Friday, then I’ll post my championship picks on the VSiN Pro Picks page on Sunday. That said, keep reading for my tennis best bets for Wednesday, February 18.
NOTE: Gill Alexander, host of A Numbers Game, posts a bunch of tennis plays to the VSiN picks page. He does a great job handicapping tennis. That page is also where I post all of my Challenger-level picks + plays for all of the tournaments I’m not writing up daily.
Iva Jovic vs. Jessica Pegula – Dubai
Sorana Cirstea vs. Alexandra Eala – Dubai
Jovic is a player that reminds me of Pegula quite a bit, as she’s an all-court player that does everything pretty well. However, she doesn’t exactly have one trait that blows you away. Still, you can make a great career out of that, which is why Pegula has been knocking on the door when it comes to winning her maiden Grand Slam title. That said, I fully see why everyone is so high on Jovic. I do, however, believe that Pegula should be able to beat this player, who might mirror her but isn’t quite as strong all around.
Pegula is in great form right now, as she’s 9-2 since the start of the 2026 season. She also knocked off Madison Keys and Amanda Ansimova in Melbourne, and she put up a hell of a fight against eventual champion Elena Rybakina. Pegula then came right here and beat the brakes off Varvara Gracheva, so I don’t have any reasons to believe she isn’t feeling the ball well.
To get a better price on the Pegula moneyline, let’s roll with Cirstea to beat Eala. This might not be a straightforward match, as Eala has the crowd pretty much everywhere she plays. However, given the way Cirstea is playing right now, it’s hard to imagine her losing this match. While this is the final year of her career, this is arguably the best she has ever played. In fact, as of February 16, she was eighth in the world in yearly Elo Rating over at Tennis Abstract. Her number of 1948.2 is also way higher than Eala’s 1732.0.
PARLAY: Pegula ML & Cirstea ML (+115)
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Daniil Medvedev – Doha
Zhizhen Zhang vs. Jakub Mensik – Doha
This is around the time last year that Tsitsipas started to play a little better, as he won a title in Dubai in February. However, Tsitsipas did go out in his opening-round match in Doha. And I’m just not sure he has the game to beat Medvedev right now. Tsitsipas’ serve and forehand still give him chances to win matches, but they’re not as potent as they used to be. Meanwhile, Medvedev is still an elite returner, capable of neutralizing the Greek star’s serve. And while Medvedev isn’t the baseline grinder her used to be, he’s still capable of keeping rallies alive and waiting out Tsitsipas errors — especially from the backhand wing.
Much like the other play, I’m going with a two-legger to get a better price on the match I like most. Well, let’s ride Mensik to beat Zhang to get the Medvedev play home. I have been all over Zhang lately, as he’s too talented to be losing to Challenger-level players. However, going from Challenger matches, and a meeting with Roberto Carballes Baena, to a matchup with Mensik will be a significant leap in competition. I expect this to be a match in which Mensik holds rather easily, and I think his grinding style from the back of the court will eventually break Zhang — who is prone to experiencing major fatigue in longer matches, plus racking up mistakes quickly.
PARLAY: Medvedev ML & Mensik ML (-110 – 1.5 units )
Added Plays
I usually have A LOT MORE on the Pro Picks page. Those plays count towards my record and have been a big part of my success this season. Make sure you check them out. I’ll probably add a few more over there, so refresh that page throughout the day if you’re looking for action.
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