🎾 WTA Madrid: Moyuka Uchijima vs Elina Svitolina

🎾 WTA Madrid: Moyuka Uchijima vs Elina Svitolina – Match Preview

🧠 Form & Context

🇺🇦 Elina Svitolina

• Madrid breakthrough: Had never reached past the second round in nine previous appearances at this tournament—until now.
• Perfect clay swing: Extends her flawless clay record in 2025 to 8-0, including a title in Rouen and straight-set wins over Rybakina and Sakkari in Madrid.
• Back to her best: Since returning from maternity leave in 2023, Svitolina has reestablished herself in the top 20 with deep runs at Wimbledon, the Australian Open, and Indian Wells.
• Clay expertise: Owns 7 career titles on clay, including two prestigious wins in Rome. With her current form and confidence, a title run in Madrid is well within reach.

🇯🇵 Moyuka Uchijima

• Late clay bloomer: Had only one tour-level main draw win on clay before this month—now she’s into her second consecutive QF after a career-best run in Madrid.
• Giant killer: Scalp list includes Jessica Pegula (6-3, 6-2) and Ekaterina Alexandrova in back-to-back rounds—her first two top-30 wins on clay.
• Madrid momentum: Entered the event with only one WTA QF in her career (2022), now has two in April alone.
• ITF dominance on dirt: Won 3 W100 titles in 2024, two on Spanish clay, including right here in Madrid.

🔍 Match Breakdown

Elina Svitolina is doing what she does best—absorbing pace, redirecting shots, and mentally outlasting opponents. Her victories over Rybakina and Sakkari were textbook clay-court clinics: steady, controlled aggression, and relentless baseline pressure. The altitude in Madrid may favor hitters, but Svitolina has adapted beautifully with depth and precision.

Moyuka Uchijima is playing the tournament of her life, and her back-to-back upsets of Pegula and Alexandrova are proof she can hang with the WTA elite. However, most of her best clay results have come at ITF level, and her aggressive baseline style may be less effective against a retriever like Svitolina, who forces opponents into long, mentally exhausting rallies.

Their previous meeting, a 6-2, 6-1 blowout by Svitolina at the 2024 Olympics on clay, shows the matchup dynamic: Svitolina thrives on Uchijima’s rhythm and can exploit her movement and consistency. Unless the Japanese player redlines her game for two straight sets, it’s hard to see an upset here.

🔮 Prediction

Uchijima has had a fairytale run, but this matchup—and this opponent—is a bad fit at this stage. Svitolina’s poise, court IQ, and red-hot clay form should prove too much.

🧩 Prediction: Svitolina in 2 sets – comfortable baseline dominance with few momentum swings.