The 2025 Houston Open will kick-start on Monday, March 31 with its first round matches as Cristian Garin, Jenson Brooksby and Alex Michelsen take to court. Get the best predictions and tips for the day from ATP Houston Open 2025.
Cristian Garin vs Alexander Ritschard
In a battle between the 125th-ranked Alexander Ritschard and the world number 133 Cristian Garin, there might not be a favourite otherwise but in this case it’s tough to look beyond Garin.
For one, Garin has already played in seven clay court matches for the season while Ritschard hasn’t even opened his account as far as that is concerned. Also Garin enters this tournament with a superb record here – he won this in 2019, was a semifinalist in 2022 and entered the last eight stage in the 2023 edition.
Ritschard’s performances this season have been restricted to Challenger circuit while Garin has featured in the main draw of a couple of top level tournaments already. That should also give the Chilean a bit of an edge.
Garin v Ritschard Tip: Garin to win: 9/20
Jenson Brooksby vs Taro Daniel
This will be the first meeting between the 124th-ranked Taro Daniel and world number 507 Jenson Brooksby who is looking to make a comeback after missing most of 2023 and 2024 because of fitness concerns and a suspension.
Brooksby showed his mettle at the Indian Wells Masters earlier this year, reaching the third round there at the expense of Benjamin Bonzi and Felix Auger-Aliassime. That being said, clay could be a different ball-game altogether for the American.
He did make it through the qualifiers but Brooksby was an overwhelming favourite going up against Federico Gomez and Patrick Maloney.
The good news for Brooksby is that his opponent here, Taro Daniel, hasn’t had the best of times this season. He kick-started the year on the back of four successive losses and other than making it to the quarterfinals at the San Diego Challenger has not won a single main draw match.
Where things do become interesting is that Daniel has a reasonable record on clay but with no form or rhythm, it’s highly unlikely he will have a chance to win. We could see it go to the third set though.
Brooksby v Daniel Tip: Three sets in the match: 6/5
Alex Michelsen vs Learner Tien
This is a match between two Next-Gen(ers), both of whom clashed in the previous edition of the Next Gen Finals held in 2024. Tien had won that semifinal but it’s interesting to see that he is still ranked 69th in the world to Alex Michelsen’s 34th.
Even more interesting is the fact that neither player particularly enjoys playing on clay.
Michelsen, who is 11-8 for the season, has won just three main draw matches on this surface in his career. Tien hasn’t even played one tour-level encounter on clay.
What this means is it makes this a bit of a tough bet to go with but at 4/6, backing Michelsen seems to be a decent option to go with.
Michelsen v Tien Tip: Michelsen to win: 4/6
Other Houston Open 2025 Predictions for the Day
- Tomas Martin Etcheverry v Aleksandar Kovacevic: Etcheverry to win: 2/5
- Brandon Holt v Corentin Denolly: Holt to win: 3/10
