🎾 WTA Madrid: Moyuka Uchijima vs Ekaterina Alexandrova

🎾 WTA Madrid: Moyuka Uchijima vs Ekaterina Alexandrova – Match Preview

🧠 Form & Context

🇷🇺 Ekaterina Alexandrova

• Clay Court Surge: Winning more clay matches this season than the past two years combined, highlighted by straight-set wins over Olga Danilovic and Daria Kasatkina.
• Top-20 Dominance: Six of her nine career top-20 clay wins have come in this month alone, including Pegula and Andreeva in Stuttgart.
• Resurgent Season: Reached back-to-back semifinals in Charleston and Stuttgart, rebounding from early exits during the hard-court swing.
• Madrid Pedigree: Made a surprise semifinal run here in 2022 as a qualifier and looks poised for another deep push.

🇯🇵 Moyuka Uchijima

• Career-Best Win: Scored her first top-20 victory by stunning Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-2, outperforming the American in both winners and consistency.
• Building Momentum: Followed up with battling wins over Robin Montgomery and Ons Jabeur, showing improved mental resilience.
• Clay Credentials: Won three clay titles in 2023 at the ITF level (two W100 events), but still seeking her first true WTA 1000 breakthrough.
• Stepping Up: Reaching a rare WTA 1000 R4 highlights her growing adaptation to the tour level after a slow rise.

🔍 Match Breakdown

Ekaterina Alexandrova’s booming flat groundstrokes and surprisingly efficient clay-court movement are clicking at just the right time. Her ability to hit through the court and keep points short will be crucial against a scrappy mover like Uchijima.

Moyuka Uchijima’s path so far has been remarkable, combining defensive skills, tactical patience, and timely aggression. However, facing Alexandrova is a different proposition compared to beating a struggling Jabeur or a misfiring Pegula: the Russian is currently imposing herself physically and mentally on matches.

Madrid’s quickish clay also favors Alexandrova’s clean, low trajectory strokes, making it tougher for Uchijima to turn defense into attack consistently.

If Alexandrova keeps her unforced error count manageable and lands her first serve at a good rate, Uchijima will likely find it hard to stay in control of the match rhythm.

🔮 Prediction

Moyuka Uchijima’s run has been brilliant, but Ekaterina Alexandrova’s elite ball-striking and clay form suggest she’s too powerful and consistent right now for an upset.

🧩 Prediction: Alexandrova in straight sets, continuing her impressive clay swing.

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