The 23-year-old is coming up the ranking quickly this year.
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday April 27, 2025
Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima has been making big waves on the tour this year. On Sunday in Madrid she made her biggest splash yet, defeating third-ranked Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-2 to reach the fourth round.
Uchijima hit 21 winners to just 10 for Pegula to secure the victory, and reach the round of 16 at a 1000 event for the first time.
Find out more about the rising Japanese talent here:
She Broke into the Top 100 in 2024
Uchijima was ranked No.171 at the start of the 2024 season. Now she’s up to No.54 in the live rankings. Uchijima won 51 matches across all levels in 2024, and won her first two main draw matches on tour, at Roland-Garros and the US Open, after qualifying.
Uchijima was named ITF World Tennis Tour Player of the Month for May after a run that culminated in her first Grand Slam match-win at Roland Garros.
Moyuka Uchijima scores her first career top 10 win in an impressive display 🎯#MMOpen pic.twitter.com/co5be0NizC
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) April 27, 2025
She Loves Clay – and Madrid
“I didn’t grow up playing on clay courts but after I won an (ITF event last year in Madrid), I started to like clay more and more. She cites clay as her favorite surface on the WTA website.
She Reached No.83 in the Junior Rankings
She wasn’t among the biggest names during her junior days of 2018 and 2019. She played four junior Grand Slams with a best result of round of 16 in 2018 at the US Open.
She’s beaten four big names since February
Uchijima has wins over Jelena Ostapenko in Dubai, Emma Raducanu at Indian Wells, as well as Ons Jabeur and Pegula at Madrid. She also took Coco Gauff to three sets at Indian Wells, before falling in a third-set breaker. She also lost to Mirra Andreeva in a third-set tiebreak, in the second round at this year’s Australian Open.
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