🎾 WTA Madrid: Jessica Pegula vs Moyuka Uchijima – Match Preview
🧠 Form & Context
🇺🇸 Jessica Pegula
- Clay Confidence: Opened her Madrid campaign with a commanding 6-2, 6-2 win over Eva Lys, breaking serve six times in 72 minutes.
- Madrid Success: Finalist here in 2022—her best-ever result on red clay.
- Elite Consistency: Reached eight finals across the last 10 months, including Toronto, Cincinnati, the US Open, Miami, and Charleston (clay title).
- Solid on Dirt: Recently captured her first career clay title in Charleston, reinforcing her clay-court credentials.
🇯🇵 Moyuka Uchijima
- Giant Killer: Scored a comeback win over former World No. 2 Ons Jabeur after rallying past Robin Montgomery in R1.
- Main Draw Breakthrough: Making her Caja Mágica debut and displaying impressive mental toughness with two comeback wins.
- Clay Success: Won multiple ITF titles on clay last year, helping her break into the top 60.
- Tour-Level Inexperience: Despite strong spirit, she remains relatively untested against elite-level opponents.
🔍 Match Breakdown
Pegula enters this matchup with overwhelming advantages—experience, clay-court composure, and tactical precision. Her consistency and ability to construct points effectively on Madrid’s quicker clay give her a clear upper hand.
Uchijima’s fearless style has carried her this far, including a signature win over Jabeur, but Pegula’s baseline reliability and minimal error margin pose a much sterner test. Pegula is unlikely to offer the kind of windows Uchijima exploited in her previous rounds.
While Uchijima has toppled big names recently, her 0–6 record against top-10 players highlights the challenge she faces against a seasoned and efficient operator like Pegula.
🔮 Prediction
✔️ Prediction: Jessica Pegula in straight sets
Expect Pegula to control tempo from the outset and steadily pull away. A composed and professional win, likely under 17 total games.
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