ATX Open 2025 Day 1: Women's singles predictions ft. Anna Blinkova vs Moyuka Uchijima

ATX Open 2025 will kick off on February 24, with the opening day featuring eight matches at the Westwood Country Club in Austin. Four will take place in the women's singles event while four will take place in doubles.

Yue Yuan is the highest-ranked singles player who will be in action on the opening day of the WTA 250 tournament as she will face Australia's Kimberly Birrell. The only American who will feature in singles action on Day 1 will be Texas-born Malaika Rapolu, who will square off against Nuria Parrizas Diaz.

Two doubles pairs from the US will play, with Makenna Jones and Christina Rosca taking on the Spanish pair of Aliona Bolsova and Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers while Sophie Chang and Angela Kulikov will lock horns with the fourth-seeded British duo of Heather Watson and Maia Lumsden. The likes of Anna Blinkova and Arantxa Rus will also be in action.

On that note, let us take a look at the women's singles predictions for Day 1 of the ATX Open.

---

#1. Anna Blinkova vs Moyuka Uchijima

Anna Blinkova will face sixth seed Moyuka Uchijima in the first round of the ATX Open. It will be the very first meeting between the two and whoever wins, will face either Anna Bondar or Tatjana Maria in the second round of the WTA 250 event.

Blinkova last competed at the Transylvania Open and reached the second round before suffering a 2-6, 6-7(5) defeat to Ella Seidel. Uchijima's last tournament was the Dubai Tennis Championships, for which, she had to qualify for the main draw. The Japanese registered a shock 6-3, 6-3 win over Jelena Ostapenko before losing 3-6, 2-6 to sixth seed and eventual semifinalist Elena Rybakina in the second round.

Blinkova has won six out of 11 main-draw matches so far in 2025 while Uchijima has triumphed in just two out of eight. While the Japanese is the higher-ranked player out of the two, the Russian's form so far has been relatively better. Hence, she should manage to bag the victory and move on to the Round of 16 of the ATX Open

Predicted Winner: Anna Blinkova.

---

#2. Yue Yuan vs Kimberly Birrell

Yue Yuan faces a tricky opponent in the first round of the ATX Open (Image Source: Getty)

Fourth seed Yue Yuan will take on Kimberly Birrell in the opening round of the ATX Open. The two will lock horns for the very first time and the winner of the match gets to play a qualifier for a place in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Austin.

Yue last competed in the qualifiers of the Dubai Tennis Championships as the second seed and started with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Cristina Bucsa before losing 5-7, 4-6 to Irina-Camelia Begu in the final round. Birrell, on the other hand, was last seen on court during the Singapore Tennis Open, where she ousted fifth seed Polina Kudermetova and Hailey Baptiste to reach the quarterfinals before losing to eventual runner-up Ann Li.

Both players have played seven main-draw matches so far in 2025, with Birrell winning four while Yue has won just two. The Aussie may be ranked 25 places below her Chinese opponent but based on her current form, she has the edge going into this fixture at the ATX Open.

Predicted Winner: Kimberly Birrell.

---

#3. Nuria Parrizas Diaz vs Malaika Rapolu

Nuria Parrizas Diaz will face local girl Malaika Rapolu in the first round of the ATX Open. The two will square off for the first time and the winner will take on either top seed Jessica Pegula or Arantxa Rus in the second round of the WTA 250 tournament.

Parrizas Diaz last competed in the qualifiers of the Linz Open, where she lost 2-6, 1-6 to Julia Grabher. Rapolu, who was born in Texas and played college tennis for the Texas Longhorns, last played a match in November 2024 at an ITF tournament in Malibu.

Neither player has won a single WTA tour-level match so far in 2025 and while World No. 542 Rapolu could have the crowd's support, Parrizas Diaz's experience should be able to see her come out on top and reach the second round of the ATX Open.

Predicted Winner: Nuria Parrizas Diaz.