The 2025 Houston Open continues on Tuesday, April 1 with its first round matches as Jordan Thompson, Kei Nishikori and Christopher Eubanks take to court. Get the best predictions and tips for the day from ATP Houston Open 2025.
Jordan Thompson v Ethan Quinn
This is an interesting one in that it’s a 35th-ranked player in Jordan Thompson who will be up against the 130th-ranked Ethan Quinn and on paper that should imply a straightforward enough result.
However, once we dig a tad deeper, we see that neither player is too proficient on clay.
Take the example of the 30-year-old Thompson who has been around on the circuit for a while now but over the last 18 clay court tournaments that he has played, he has won just six matches.
Quinn’s record on clay is equally underwhelming with the American having never won a main draw tour-level match in his career. That being said, he is at his career-best ranking of 130th, playing at home and which is why those odds of 6/4 for his win look attractive suddenly.
Going with a Quinn win here.
Thompson v Quinn Tip: Quinn to win: 6/4
Christopher Eubanks v Rinky Hijikata
The 82nd-ranked Rinky Hijikata will be up against the world number 117 Christopher Eubanks as they look to grab a rare place in the second round of a clay court competition.
Eubanks, who was 34th in the world at the start of the 2024 season, has seen his ranking tumble drastically and his performances this season seem to give an indicator why that seems to be happening. For the second season running, the American has struggled to win matches, making it to the second round of a tour-level event just once in 2025.
Add that to the fact that over the past eight tournaments that he has played on clay, he hasn’t won a match, it’s no surprise that he will have a lot of pressure on him coming into this one.
On the other hand, Hijikata himself might be on a bit of a resurgent path in what can be described as a bit of a breakout couple of seasons but clay isn’t his forte either.
He will be playing in his first clay court tournament of the season having won just one match over his past nine such competitions across levels.
That sole win, however, did come against Eubanks, and that is why we might have to go with a win for Hijikata here as well.
Eubanks v Hijikata Tip: Hijikata to win: 8/11
Kei Nishikori v Mitchell Krueger
The experience of the comeback-man Kei Nishikori can be expected to play a huge part here as he takes on American world number 141 Mitchell Krueger for a place in the second round.
Nishikori is a three-time French Open quarterfinalist and has made the final at both, the Madrid Masters and Monte-Carlo Masters in his career – an indicator he can hold his own on clay.
In more recent times, Nishikori hasn’t played a lot of overall tennis, let alone on clay, given his fitness concerns but the good news for him is that he looks to have done enough this year to prove that his injuries are behind him for now.
Krueger did make it through the qualifiers to enter the main draw but the 31-year-old has done a lot better in hardcourt competitions than on clay – and that’s on the Challenger circuit. At the highest level, his overall record isn’t much.
Nishikori v Krueger Tip: Nishikori to win in three sets: 7/2
Other Houston Open 2025 Predictions for the Day
- Mackenzie McDonald v Daniel Elahi Galan: Galan to win: 4/6
- Yannick Hanfmann v Nicolas Moreno de Alboran: Three sets in the match: 6/4
- Michael Mmoh v Adam Walton: Walton to win: 1/1
- James Duckworth v Colton Smith: Duckworth to win a set: 6/5
