 Serana Castella vs. Jasmine Palini is the first semi-final for the Dubai championships for 2024. And both players were not expected to get this far. Castella entered the tournament, unseeded and will take on Sofia Kenyon in the first round. And after a close second set, would get through in straights 6-3-7-6. In the second round she take on the 13-seat Kudamatova, who had just beaten Yastremskir in the first round. There's no problem for Castella getting through in straights 6-1-6-4. In the third round she take on Donna Vekic, who had just beaten Saber Lenker, Yastran open champion in the second round. And after losing the first set, Castella would fight back to win 3-6-6-3-7-5. In the quarter final she take on the Wimbledon champion in the number 7 seed Vondrusava, who had started getting into a little bit of form this week. And after being down 6-2-5-1 in multiple match points, Castella would fight back to win in one of the best comebacks of the year, 2-6-7-6-6-2, to advance to the semi-finals. Palini entered the tournament, unseeded, and will take on the number 11 seed Hadajmira in the first round. And after losing the first set, would fight back to win 4-6-6-4-6 love. In the second round she take on Fernandez, who had been in form the last couple of weeks, which was no problem for Palini getting through in straights, 6-3-6-4. In the third round she take on the number 8 seed Zachary, who hadn't been in great form throughout 2024. And this showed, with Palini getting through in straights, 6-4-6-2. In the quarter finals she was supposed to play the number 4 seed Rabakina, who had played a lot of tennis over the last couple of weeks, but unfortunately Rabakina got Gastro, unable to play, handing the walkover to Palini. These two have only played 2 times or 4 with Palini winning both of those matches in 3 sets, with their last match being at the French Open last year. In the first round Palini causing the upset against Castella, which at the time was a massive upset because Castella was playing really well. Palini is going to win this one. She needs to use the confidence of that head-to-head. She knows it's not going to be easy, but she also got to use that fitness as well, because she didn't play in the quarter finals today, whereas Castella did. Played a really long match, so maybe there's some fatigue there. Palini's got to use that to her advantage and try and maybe move Castella around and try and make this match last a little longer. Castella is going to win this one. She needs to play much better in the first set and convert her chances. She got away with it against Von Drussever, who really started to play bad once she got the lead in the second set, but she can't give away that many chances and expect to win matches going forward. What a random matchup in a Dubai 1000 semi-final and both of these players that have to be here, they've both been really good, but are going to go with Palini in this one. I think the head-to-head and also the day off might just help Palini and Castella with almost the expectation of making the final and being 33 years old, this might be a best chance to make a huge final. I've got to go with Palini, I think less pressure on her, but let me know down in the comments below who have you all winning this one.