Techniques for performing open-loop rate control in a TDD communication system are described. The channel quality of a first link is estimated based on a transmission received via the first link. The channel quality of a second link is estimated based on the estimated channel quality of the first link and an asymmetric parameter. At least one rate for a data transmission via the second link is selected based on the estimated channel quality of the second link. The estimated channel quality for each link may be given by a set of SNR estimates for a set of transmission channels on that link. The asymmetric parameter may be determined based on (1) the capabilities (e.g., transmit power, receiver noise figure, and number of antennas) of the transmitting and receiving stations or (2) received SNRs for the first and second links.