Dallas, Rotterdam, Abu Dhabi and Cluj-Napoca tennis best bets for February 5th
The 2025 Australian Open is in the books, but tennis never stops. This week, the top ATP players in the world are competing in Rotterdam and Dallas, and the best WTA players are playing in Abu Dhabi and Cluj-Napoca. Rotterdam and Dallas are both 500-level events, so the men are going to be really locked in for those two tournaments. On the women’s side, Abu Dhabi is a 500 and Cluj-Napoca is a 250. I’ll be handicapping all of the events on both tours this week, and I’ll also be mixing in some Challenger-level plays. However, I’m only going to be writing up the 500-level events this season, so you’ll find my lower-level tournament plays on the Pro Picks page. That said, keep reading for my Dallas, Rotterdam and Abu Dhabi tennis best bets for Wednesday, February 5th.
I’m going to quickly hit on some of my favorite picks below, and I occasionally add some picks throughout the day. Schedules can get wonky with the international nature of the sport, and I also like to see how odds are moving. That said, keep checking the picks page every couple of hours if you want more of my picks.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts are betting!
2025 Record: 137-120-1 (+6.18 units)
Tallon Griekspoor vs. Matteo Berrettini – Rotterdam
A lot of people I respect are backing Griekspoor in this match, and I definitely understand why. On an indoor hard-court, a player with his massive serve and no-nonsense game can be difficult to beat. However, the courts in Rotterdam play slower than your average indoor hard courts, and that favors Berrettini quite a bit. The Italian is just as good as Griekspoor as a server, if not better. So, he should have no problem racking up holds. However, I strongly believe Berrettini has a better baseline game than Griekspoor, and the slightly slower conditions should only make it a bigger advantage. Berrettini’s forehand will be the biggest weapon within each rally, and having a little extra time on the backhand side will take away his biggest weakness.
I also was extremely impressed with Berrettini in his match against Holger Rune at the Australian Open. He looked like he was in tremendous shape, and he was moving better than usual. That’s not surprising considering he brought in one of the most well-respected fitness coaches in tennis.
Overall, this just feels like a really good price to be getting for the more talented — and more accomplished — player. Let’s not forget that Griekspoor just lost in straight sets against Jesper De Jong.
Bet: Berrettini ML (-139)
Michael Mmoh vs. Roberto Carballes Baena – Dallas
Mmoh looked solid in qualifying, winning in straight sets against Tristan Boyer and Georgi Georgiev. He also played some good tennis in a 6-4, 7-5 loss to Eliot Spizzirri in a Cleveland Challenger last week. Spizzirri is a very talented young player, so there was no shame in that. Mmoh should now be feeling pretty match-ready and confident heading into this meeting with Carballes Baena, and I’m not sure why the American is available at this price.
Carballes Baena did make the Round of 32 at the Australian Open, but he had a very easy draw. And overall, this is a player that came into this season after five consecutive losing years. He also has just a 34-53 record on hard courts in his ATP career, which gives him a winning percentage of just 39.1%. If not for clay, Carballes Baena would struggle to hang on to a ranking in the Top 100.
This is just a good draw for Mmoh, who has the type of game that can frustrate Carballes Baena. Mmoh is extremely athletic and is going to run down a lot of balls, but he can also go in attack mode when he’s feeling it. And I just wouldn’t be surprised if he finds his best stuff here. Carballes Baena’s shots should find Mmoh’s strike zone rather often. And the crowd will definitely be behind Mmoh.
Bet: Mmoh ML (+136)
Jiri Lehecka vs. Hubert Hurkacz – Rotterdam
As previously mentioned, the courts in Rotterdam can play a little slower. That should give Lehecka a shot at breaking Hurkacz a couple of times in this match, but I’m not sure I see the Pole finding success as a returner against the Czech. While serving up aces and hitting untouchable targets is part of being a great server, putting away shots off serves that come back is another. And Lehecka is just going to be much better than Hurkacz at finding serve-plus-ones, as well as winning longer rallies in this match. Lehecka has the power to hit through any conditions. Hurkacz can’t say the same. When he’s not blasting serves, he’s really more of a pusher from the baseline.
I do think that Hurkacz will make some strides with his game throughout the year, as he went out and hired a world-class coaching team before the season. But we haven’t quite seen any huge differences just yet, so it could take some time to see the fruits of Hurkacz’s labor.
Of course, it does need to be pointed out that Hurkacz beat Lehecka 6-3, 6-7 (9), 7-6 (9) when these two met at this very tournament last year. But Hurkacz isn’t as good as he was a year ago. Lehecka is only getting better.
Bet: Lehecka ML (-115 – 1.5 units)
Kei Nishikori vs. Tomas Machac – Dallas
Machac is currently ninth in the world in hard-court Elo rating, and I’m not sure I see Nishikori playing the type of dynamite tennis that people seem to think he’s playing. A lot of people liked Nishikori to push Tommy Paul in Melbourne, but that ended up being a one-sided four-set win for the American. And that came directly after a match in which Nishikori struggled against Thiago Monteiro. Nishikori also got rocked by Jacob Fearnley in a Davis Cup match last week, and I’m trying not to put too much stock in his run to the finals in Hong Kong before the Australian Open. The 35-year-old is obviously a talented player, and he knows how to win matches as a veteran that has played in a ton of big events. But Machac is an emerging talent that should have a big advantage from the backhand wing, and I like the way he matches up everywhere else. Machac also has a slight rest advantage against Nishikori. The 35-year-old played two Davis Cup matches last week while Machac only played one.
I think the price on this match would look very different if Machac played a little better against Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, but nerves clearly played a big role in the Czech underperforming there. He has a big enough game to push anybody in any match, so that was merely a blip on the radar. I expect him to look more like a top-15 talent in this winnable matchup against an aging player.
Bet: Machac ML (-154)
NOTE: I gave away the Machac play on Sunday. The odds are now a lot worse, but he would be a good parlay anchor.
Additional Plays
I usually have A LOT MORE on the Pro Picks page. These plays count towards my record and have been a big part of my success in the past. Make sure you check them out. I’ll probably add a few more over there, so refresh that page throughout the day. My 250-level and Challenger-level action will live exclusively on the Pro Picks page.
Tuesday’s Plays
Ons Jabeur -2.5 Games (-122) vs. Jelena Ostapenko [Abu Dhabi]
Casper Ruud ML (-154 – 1.5 units) vs. Marcos Giron [Dallas]
Simona Halep ML (+120) vs. Lucia Bronzetti [Cluj-Napoca]
Marco Trungelliti ML (-125) vs. Damir Dzumhur [Rosario Challenger]
Rei Sakamoto ML (-111) vs. Benjamin Hassan [Tenerife Challenger]
Pedro Cachin ML (-120 – 1.5 units) vs. Pol Martin Tiffon [Tenerife Challenger]
Daniel Elahi Galan ML (-105 – 1.5 units) vs. Francesco Passaro [Rosario Challenger]
Tom Paris ML (-142- 1.5 units) vs. Benoit Paire [Lille Challenger]
Roberto Bautista Agut ML (-140 – 1.5 units) vs. Pedro Martinez [Rotterdam]
PARLAY: Cam Norrie +4.5 Games vs. Alex Michelsen [Dallas] & Holger Rune ML vs. Lorenzo Sonego [Rotterdam] (-114 – 1.5 units)
Juan Pablo Ficovich ML (+100 – 2 units) vs. Roman Andres Burruchaga [Rosario Challenger]
PARLAY: Sebastian Baez ML vs. Emilio Nava & Gustavo Heide ML vs. Facundo Mena (+116 – 1.5 units) [Rosario Challenger]
