Elise Mertens and Cristina Bucsa will square off in the 1st round of the Japan Open for the 4th time in their career. They are scheduled to play on Tuesday at 7:00 pm on CENTER. In this post, we analyze their head to head performance and prediction.
Prediction, odds and live streaming
The pick for Tennis Tonic is Elise Mertens who should win in 2 sets.
Elise Mertens -> 1.43
Cristina Bucsa -> 2.81
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Prediction and head to head Elise Mertens vs. Cristina Bucsa
This will be the 4th time that Elise Mertens and Cristina Bucsa clash against each other. The head to head is 2-1 for Bucsa (see full H2H stats), 2-1 on hard.
The last time that they locked horns, Bucsa won 3-6 7-5 6-3 in the 3rd round in at the U.S. Open back in August 2025.
Highlights Cristina Bucsa vs Elise Mertens – U.S. Open 29-August-2025
Elise Mertens
35 - 19win/loss
20
12
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 36-20 | 17-13 | 6-5 | 5-0 | 8-2 | 0-0 |
| 2024 | 28-25 | 18-15 | 6-5 | 1-1 | 3-4 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 30-22 | 24-16 | 5-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 29-23 | 19-14 | 4-3 | 2-2 | 4-4 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 33-20 | 20-10 | 9-5 | 2-2 | 2-3 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 21, the Belgian will start her run in Osaka after she played her last match in Wuhan where she lost w/o to Bencic in the 2nd round on the 8th of October.
Mertens has a compiled 35-19 win-loss record in 2025, 16-12 on hard (See FULL STATS).
Her best result of the current season was conquering the title in Singapore where she defeated Ann Li in the final 6-1 6-4 and in Hertogenbosch where she overcame Elena Gabriela Ruse in the final 6-3 7-6(4).
Talking about her overall career, Mertens has an overall 482-279 record. She has a positive 279-148 record on hard.
Previously in Osaka
Previously, her best result was reaching the semifinal in 2019. See her history.
Cristina Bucsa
29 - 28win/loss
54
54
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 34-31 | 24-20 | 2-6 | 2-1 | 6-4 | 0-0 |
| 2024 | 24-29 | 14-18 | 8-7 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 35-30 | 17-15 | 7-8 | 8-3 | 3-4 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 49-31 | 17-8 | 15-12 | 10-6 | 5-4 | 2-1 |
| 2021 | 31-27 | 9-7 | 9-11 | 6-6 | 5-2 | 2-1 |
Ranked no. 72, Cristina will start her run in Osaka after she played her last match in Wuhan where she lost 2-6 6-3 6-3 to Wang in the qualifications on the 4th of October.
The Spaniard has an aggregate 29-28 win-loss record in 2025, 19-17 on hard (See FULL STATS).
In terms of her career, Bucsa has an overall 323-234 record. She has a positive 119-81 record on hard.
Previously in Osaka
Previously, her best result was reaching the 1st round in 2024. See her history.
Tennis Scores in Osaka
- Ashlyn KruegerKrueger – Maria SakkariSakkari (2-6 6-3 6-4) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Olga DanilovicDanilovic – Nao HibinoHibino (6-4 1-6 6-2) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Katie BoulterBoulter – Linda NoskovaNoskova (7-63 6-3) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Sorana CirsteaCirstea – Moyuka UchijimaUchijima (2-6 6-4 6-2) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Naomi OsakaOsaka – Wakana SonobeSonobe (6-0 6-4) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Suzan LamensLamens – Emiliana ArangoArango (6-1 6-2) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Simone Bolelli/Guillermo DuranBolelli/Guillermo Duran – Ariel Behar/Gonzalo EscobarBehar/Gonzalo Escobar (6-4 6-3) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Gonzalo EscobarEscobar – Joao DominguesDomingues (6-1 6-3) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Yannick HanfmannHanfmann – Julian LenzLenz (7-5 6-4) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Geoffrey BlancaneauxBlancaneaux – Daniel MasurMasur (6-4 6-4) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Botic Van De ZandschulpVan De Zandschulp – Renzo OlivoOlivo (6-1 6-4) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Mats MoraingMoraing – Nicola KuhnKuhn (6-3 2-6 7-5) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Tobias KamkeKamke – Niklas GuttauGuttau (7-5 6-4) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Javier Barranco CosanoBarranco Cosano – Maximilian MartererMarterer (w/o) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Attila BalazsBalazs – Bernabe Zapata MirallesZapata Miralles (6-1 6-1) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Jozef KovalikKovalik – Benjamin HassanHassan (6-4 6-75 6-4) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Pedro CachinCachin – Tim Van RijthovenVan Rijthoven (7-5 6-1) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Lucas MiedlerMiedler – Thiemo de Bakkerde Bakker (6-4 7-62) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Johannes HaerteisHaerteis – Cedrik-Marcel StebeStebe (3-6 7-5 6-4) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Steven DiezDiez – Alexey VatutinVatutin (6-4 3-6 6-2) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Tallon GriekspoorGriekspoor – Alexandre MullerMuller (7-63 7-63) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Carlos TabernerTaberner – Peter HellerHeller (7-64 6-1) – Stats, scores, rankings
- Daniel AltmaierAltmaier – Karim-Mohamed MaamounMaamoun (6-4 7-64) – Stats, scores, rankings
Upcoming matches in the draw
- Elise MertensMertens – Cristina BucsaBucsa (1-2) – H2H and prediction
- Hailey BaptisteBaptiste – Leylah Annie FernandezAnnie Fernandez (0-0) – H2H and prediction
- Marie BouzkovaBouzkova – Ena ShibaharaShibahara (0-0) – H2H and prediction
- Viktorija GolubicGolubic – Bianca Vanessa AndreescuVanessa Andreescu (1-1) – H2H and prediction
- Naomi OsakaOsaka – Suzan LamensLamens (1-0) – H2H and prediction
- Sorana CirsteaCirstea – Katie BoulterBoulter (0-0) – H2H and prediction