Italian Open 2025 Qualifying: Victoria Mboko vs Cristina Bucsa preview, head-to-head, prediction, and pick

Match Details

Fixture: Victoria Mboko vs (17) Cristina Bucsa

Date: May 5, 2024

Tournament: Italian Open 2025

Round: First Round (Qualifiers)

Venue: Foro Italico, Rome, Italy

Category: WTA 1000

Surface: Outdoor clay

Prize money: $6,911,032

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Sky Sports

Victoria Mboko vs Cristina Bucsa preview

Canada's Victoria Mboko will take on 17th seed Cristina Bucsa in the first qualifying round of the 2025 Italian Open. Mboko has played only one event on the main WTA Tour, at the Miami Open, losing 5-7, 6-1, 6-7 (3) in a three-set thriller against Paula Badosa in the second round.

However, the Canadian has been in tearaway form on the ITF Tour this year, already winning five hardcourt titles in Le Lamentin, Bourg, Rome, Manchester, and Porto. She has won two finals against Clervie Ngounoue and one each against Eva Vedder, Manon Leonard, and Harriet Dart. She began her clay season with a 2-6, 6-2, 3-6 loss against Olivia Gadecki in the first round at the WTA 125 event in Saint Malo.

Cristina Bucsa, meanwhile, has not gone past the second round at any of the events she has played at in 2025, having six second-round exits in the season. She has failed to qualify for the main draw in Adelaide, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Indian Wells, and Miami.

The Spaniard began the clay season poorly as well, losing 1-6, 4-6 against Lea Boskovic in the second round of the Copa Colsanitas. She also played at the Madrid Open as a lucky loser, losing her second-round match 6-4, 6-7 (1), 5-7 against Veronika Kudermetova.

Victoria Mboko vs Cristina Bucsa head-to-head

This will be the first meeting between the two players on the WTA Tour.

Victoria Mboko vs Cristina Bucsa odds

Player Name	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games
Victoria Mboko	TBD	TBD	TBD
Cristina Bucsa	TBD	TBD	TBD

(Odds will be updated once available)

Victoria Mboko vs Cristina Bucsa prediction

Mboko reached two claycourt finals on the ITF Tour last year. She lost 1-6, 6-2, 4-6 against Barbora Palicova in the tournament in Otocec, but the Canadian clinched the title in Darmstadt with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Angela Fita Boluda in the final.

Meanwhile, Bucsa has no singles title on the Tour, but she has won six doubles titles, four of which have come on the clay courts. Her most notable title was winning the Madrid Open in 2024 with Sara Sorribes Tormo as the Spanish pair won 6-0, 6-2 against the pair of Barbora Krejcikova and Laura Siegemund. Bucsa and Tormo also won the bronze at the Paris Olympics last year.

Mboko is the favorite for the upcoming match due to her superior singles form compared to her Spanish opponent.

Pick- Mboko to win in three sets

About the author

Sagnik, a Mass Communication and Journalism graduate, is a tennis journalist at Sportskeeda. Before finding his spot in the tennis writing team, he worked as a junior content specialist for academic content writing firms for a couple of years.

Before putting out any information in the public domain, Sagnik makes sure that every element of his content is well-researched and backed with credible data so that there is no misinterpretation of facts or quotes and ethical standards are maintained. To do so, Sagnik follows reputed websites like the Tennis Channel and Tennis TV, and renowned journalists on social media.

He is a fan of former player Roger Federer, and just like his favorite player, Sagnik likes to bring perfection to his write-ups by providing concise and on-point content. Speaking of the ‘GOAT’ debate, Sagnik believes that it is a bit unfair to compare the legends of the game from different eras who have played on different terms. But if he were to pick one, he’d go for Novak Djokovic based on his tally of 24 Grand Slam titles.

When not writing about tennis and technically analyzing the sport, which he believes are his 'forte', Sagnik indulges in reading books.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar