WTA Dubai

The unsurprising withdrawals of Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams from Dubai and the absence of Maria Sharapova have propelled Petra Kvitova to the top of the talking points on the WTA Tour for the week. The question being - is Petra back? Kvitova showed signs of life in Doha last week, both in a comeback win against Nadia Petrova and by giving Serena all she could handle.

As many of you know I'm a huge admirer of Petra's potential which is boundless. Only Serena can claim to be as or more naturally talented than Kvitova of the players currently on tour in my view. Harnessing that talent is a different problem altogether, a problem Petra has been struggling mightily with for the majority of the past 12 months.

Kvitova is priced up 11/10 to beat defending Dubai champion Agnieszka Radwanska and with court conditions fast and Petra serving closer to her usual standard that price is inflated to The Overrule. Sportingbet have the encounter at 5/6 a piece and that is more realistic. Radwanska was made to work very hard by Yulia Putintseva despite her straight sets win and Kvitova has the ability - if on form - to wipe Aga away on a court like this.

I decided to steer clear of Petra after Paris until she showed signs she has recovered herself and although I'm not convinced at all that she is all the way back, I'm happy with this price for this one off match to take a run at it. Kvitova leads the head to head 3-1 with her only defeat coming in last year's year end championship in Istanbul where Petra was suffering with bronchitis and withdrew from the event the next day.

As always on The Overrule we only look to match-bet with books that void retirements at any stage of the match. Fortunately on this occasion the best price on offer is with a book that voids in such circumstances.

2* Petra Kvitova beat Agnieszka Radwanska @ 11/10 (Bet 365)