US Open 2025: Aryna Sabalenka vs Cristina Bucsa preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick

Match Details

Fixture: (1) Aryna Sabalenka vs Cristina Bucsa

Date: August 31, 2025

Tournament: US Open 2025

Round: Fourth Round (Round of 16)

Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York, USA

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Hard

Prize Money: $90,000,000

Live Telecast: USA - ESPN | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - TSN, RDS

Aryna Sabalenka vs Cristina Bucsa preview

Aryna Sabalenka at the US Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will take on Cristina Bucsa in the fourth round of the US Open 2025.

Sabalenka's title defense got underway with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Rebeka Masarova. She then beat Polina Kudermetova 7-6 (4), 6-2 to reach the third round, where she was up against 31st seed Leylah Fernandez. The latter beat Sabalenka in the semifinals en route to the summit clash here in 2021.

Sabalenka found herself on the backfoot right off the bat but saved multiple break points in the very first game of the match. That proved to be crucial as a solitary break of serve in her favor later sealed the first set for her. Both players defended their serves extremely well in the second set, setting the stage for a tie-break. The defending champion outplayed her rival in it to register a 6-3, 7-6 (2) win.

Bucsa beat Claire Liu and Alexandra Eala in straight sets to reach the third round, where 19th seed Elise Mertens awaited her. The Spaniard went down an early break in the first set and never recovered from that, thus costing her the set.

It looked like Bucsa's journey would come to an end after falling behind 3-1 in the second set. However, she flipped the script, sweeping five of the last six games to snatch the set from her opponent. The Spaniard did the same in the deciding set, rallying from a break down to win the match 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Aryna Sabalenka vs Cristina Bucsa head-to-head

This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.

Aryna Sabalenka vs Cristina Bucsa odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games
Aryna Sabalenka	-2000	+1.5 (-10000)	Over 19.5 (+130)
Cristina Bucsa	+825	-1.5 (+1250)	Under 19.5 (-190)

(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)

Aryna Sabalenka vs Cristina Bucsa prediction

Cristina Bucsa at the US Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Bucsa had won only one match at the US Open prior to this year. She's now through to the fourth round after staging an impressive comeback. This is her first appearance in the fourth round of a Major as well. Unfortunately, this is likely to be the end of the road for her.

Sabalenka won 79 percent of her first serve points and didn't drop her serve even once against Fernandez. While the match was competitive, she played some of her best tennis of the tournament thus far.

Bucsa's record at the Majors stands at 9-12. Sabalenka notched up her 20th win at the Majors this year after beating Fernandez. She also hasn't lost prior to the final of a hardcourt Major starting with her triumph at the Australian Open 2023. Additionally, Bucsa has lost all eight of her matches against top 10 players in straight sets, thus making the defending champion a huge favorite to win this showdown.

Pick: Aryna Sabalenka to win in straight sets.

About the author

Rohit is a journalist at Sportskeeda who specializes in covering tennis. Having been with the company for four years, he has proven himself as a formidable force in the field. With a Master's degree in law, Rohit brings his analytical and research skills to the forefront as a journalist. He stays on top of the game by using social media platforms and never misses a match for on-court insights. He values giving credit where it's due, keeping his reporting fair and accurate.

At the outset of his career, Rohit found his niche in writing previews and SEO pieces and it's this expertise that continues to define his role at Sportskeeda. He is particularly proud of one article that garnered an impressive 750k views and surpassed his "wildest dreams." Rohit is not particularly fond of (GOAT) debates and it is one of the reasons why he left the legal world behind. He prefers to view players in "tiers," where they're all esteemed to an extent. However, if pressed to name favorites, he would choose Serena and Venus Williams. The Williams sisters' journey from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of tennis has been his greatest source of inspiration.

When he isn't busy making spot-on predictions about match outcomes, Rohit likes reading, particularly fantasy, sci-fi, and comics. As an X-Men fanatic, he's also passionate about board games and enjoys watching movies in his spare time. And don't be surprised if you catch him silently wishing to the tennis gods for the removal of ad scoring from doubles.

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Edited by Rohit