In the beginning, I was thinking about tense matches, and Peru's final matches only strengthened my belief. In the first stage in Dubai, Draper defeated Halys with a score of 7:6, 6:3. According to the numbers, it seems secure, but the first set was very close: lots of extended games, a battle for ball reception, a tie-break. He serves well, gets aces, maintains a high percentage of points won on his first serve, but there is no feeling that he is in a state to finish the matches quickly and without tension. It is noticeable that his concentration falls in certain areas, especially after long rallies. Rinderknechas defeated Marožana in three sets. This is also an important moment. He not only serves and waits for mistakes - he maintains distance, hangs onto each game and physically looks good. When his first serve percentage reaches 60-65%, he becomes a very unpleasant opponent. He doesn't give away his games easily and forces his opponents to play extra balls. In my mind, the picture is clear: Draper is objectively a higher-class player, but Rinderknechas is stable enough to not 'crumble' in the game. If both of their serves work, the match could easily end 6:4, 7:5 or in a tie-break. And in that scenario, Ghana will comfortably collect the games. I do not expect a one-sided story. I see a hard-working, tense match, where the favorite will take the win, but not without a fight and a few bumps in the road.

The coefficient for Virtus has risen and it can be taken. At home, this is a good team, even though the results have dropped lately, they can still score against anyone at home, when it's known that it's difficult for everyone to play in Bologna. Barca is an old team, which seems to be getting worse towards the end of the season and I believe in the Euroleague they will eventually fall to the playoffs or even below it. I don't expect them to continue demonstrating such form.

Galatasaray showed an incredible performance at home and currently holds a safe distance from their opponents, with realistic chances to advance further. However, Juventus still has a chance to achieve a positive result, although they may face a similar fate as Inter, where they were caught off guard by counterattacks from the Turkish club. Speaking about Juventus, their offense is not bad and today will be a great opportunity to showcase their skills, but I expect both teams to score goals and the Turkish club to also put pressure and challenge the Italian club under intense pressure.

Dortmund has a fairly safe advantage, but everything can change if Atalanta scores a goal. Dortmund has been somewhat passive this season as they have been burnt several times while trying to defend their lead, but I don't think there will be such mistakes today. If we had to blindly predict the result, a potential 2:2 draw.

Dortmund traditionally shows good results in the Champions League and Atalanta has reached its peak form today, I believe they will show their teeth to Dortmund. However, Atalanta has had some problems in the Italian league and they need to focus on both fronts like in a final match, so it will be interesting to see if they can demonstrate what they are really capable of today.

Yes, Žalgiris is in excellent form today and now it seems to be the most favorable situation to win against the "powerful" Olympiakos at home, who will be without Vezenkov and other strong players. However, they still have more than one capable player who can determine the outcome of the match. Žalgiris often struggles under pressure when they are considered clear favorites, which can result in giving away points to much weaker teams. I believe that Olympiakos, in this regard, is somewhat underestimated and I expect a tense battle where experience could determine the outcome of the match.

As you know, without Milutinov, even if Jones has arrived, he won't be able to play at his full 100% due to his periodic injury. As a result, tonight Donta could become the main center of the team, and with the 5 rebounds he usually gets (according to statistics, 4.9 in 15 minutes), he could easily get 7+ in 20+ minutes. He has already done this in every third game this season.

Of course, she is still young, only 21 years old, from Canada Stakusic Marina, but she is showing stable tennis in Ghana and good shots, also stopping well on the backcourt. In the first round, she beat Yastremska D. and at the Grand Slam AO, she stumbled and fell in the first round.
As for the Spaniard Bucsa Cristina, this season is unrecognizable, similar to Haddad's. Apart from this tournament, she played six matches, winning only one against Peru. In the first round, she defeated a form-losing Vekic. Bucsa is making a lot of unforced errors and double faults this season.

Former Zalgiris legionnaire, who for unknown reasons feels hurt by green-white, for which he always feels indebted and tries to pay it back with double dedication on the court, scoring double-digit point totals. His playing time varies depending on how well Olympiacos is doing - if they are not doing well, he is quickly benched, which results in his statistics suffering. Today will be a special evening when he will have to play for 30+ minutes. P.S. Yesterday, the line for his 10 points was 4.75, today it dropped to 3.65.

As it is known, Milutinovo will not be there, although Jones has arrived, but due to his period injury he will not be able to play at 100%. Therefore, tonight Donta could become the main team's center, and he will get more playing time. This would allow him to repeat what he has done once this season and four times last season, reaching the 10 rebounds per game line. According to the Euroleague ranking board, he is among the top 5 best rebounders (in terms of efficiency). The odds for him to be the most valuable player have dropped significantly from 1.77 to 1.57.

Boulter Katie, 29, is a fairly convenient opponent, making many mistakes and double faults. However, in the past weeks she managed to win an indoor hard court challenger event, where the competition wasn't very strong and her serve was very effective in closed spaces. But in open court tournaments the story changes. Just yesterday, although she won 6:4 6:4 against Haddad, she lost five of her service games, as the Brazilian player has been in hopeless form this season. Osorio Camila is a player with limited abilities on fast courts, but she has a strong mentality and chooses tactics wisely. Plus, in the first stages of the tournament she will still have plenty of energy. It's a competition in South America, so the Colombian player will have some support. In the first round she defeated solid player from Ghana.

The fight for the playoffs. With two rounds left, Gdynia holds the 7th spot, while Krakow is in 10th place. In the first round, Krakow won 83-91, so they have a simple advantage over Gdynia. From what I saw in training photos, Krakow's legionnaire J. Williams should play. In the last round, she didn't participate due to an injury.
Gdynia has practically fallen behind and has assembled a new team compared to the beginning of the season. Some players left, others got injured, and now there are only two legionnaires and two local players left, who have had some role since the beginning of the season, while the rest are young U20 national team players. In the last round, they easily defeated the last place team Gora (79-67).
In comparison, in the first games between these teams, Gdynia's Wrzesinski and Jakubiuk were key players, but now they are injured, while M. Jones has left. In their place, there are two new legionnaires and Piestrzynska. The difference between these players is that in the first games, Gdynia didn't have any tall players, but now they have Hobby and Scott, who are tall, but have weakened in the defense aspect, leaving some gaps in the team.
I hope that in their home game, Krakow will take advantage of their chance to move up to the playoffs.

Both Rusaites, Selekhmeteva Oksana - 23 years old, Rakhimova Kamilla - 24 years old.
Selekhmeteva Oksana is making some progress, she also has a fighter mentality, she used to mostly play on clay, but since last season she has been performing well on hard courts as well. This year she has good results on hard courts: she beat local player Parks in the first round, wants to play in the main draw.
Rakhimova Kamilla - it's hard to understand her style, she has been performing poorly on hard courts since last year. If she manages to pass the first stage, she always gets through the second one, but I don't know if it's because she runs out of energy or if she has mental issues. This year she played in five tournaments, but couldn't make it to the second round in any of them.
Rakhimova's second serve is very weak, she doesn't win many points with it. Selekhmeteva has a higher percentage of first serves and she wins points equally with both serves.
The only downside is that Selekhmeteva won their last H2H match on clay.

The Turkey club took a 1-0 advantage from Macedonia and I believe they should also win at home. Not only did the Turkish club win away, but they also dominated by controlling 70% of the ball possession and creating 2.4 xG while attempting significantly more shots at goal, 17 against 3. Now the focus is on Turkey, where the local team must not only secure a win statistically, but also in terms of the result.

Despite controlling the ball in the Netherlands, giant AZ (70%), the Armenian club celebrated. At home, this club always looks good, but away, everything is different, and I don't see any chances against Alkmaar club. As usual for clubs from this country, the Dutch like to score goals and will have even more control over the game at home.

The Ferencvaros club looked significantly stronger in the away game, and they will bring back a deficit, which I believe they need to eliminate. In all statistical indicators, Ferencvaros, who ranked first, should only look better at home, and their capabilities are also shown by their positions of 22nd and 12th in the group stages of the European League, where the Hungarian club has already won 3-1 against this opponent at home.

The team Zvezda has been consistently good at attacking throughout the season, but their defense often weakens significantly, as is characteristic of modern basketball and the current Euroleague. Although Efes is not the fastest team, they used to struggle in attack in the past. However, their attack has improved recently, resulting in a better overall gameplay. They have won their last 3 games and scored more than 90 points in each. Larkin was ready to play in the team before the Turkish Cup. We must take advantage of their improved form and the game of Efes.