The final European WTA Tour tournament of 2025 has arrived with 32 players contesting the field at the WTA Prague Open before hitting the hard courts in North America. There’s no byes in this event, so all the top seeds will have to hit the ground running early on in the week. It promises to be an entertaining first day and, as ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match. But who will book their slot in the second round?
WTA Prague Day 1 Predictions
Mai Hontama vs Alycia Parks
Head-to-head: First meeting
The pair last played in a smaller tournament four years ago, but this is their first meeting at tour level. Both players, especially Alycia Parks, have grown considerably in form since then. Maia Hontama hasn’t won a WTA Tour match since 2024, but she’s done well to come through the WTA Prague qualifying and has also picked up some WTA 125K wins throughout the summer. Parks, meanwhile, is on a four-match losing streak, with two of the losses coming against players ranked out of the top 200. Parks has a strong serve that should adapt well to the hard courts of Prague, and the tour-level experience might just make her the favorite. But if the American is at any point off in her game, Hontama could sneak back into the match based on Parks’ recent shocking losses.
Prediction: Parks in 3
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Sara Bejlek vs Moyuka Uchijima
Head-to-head: First meeting
Since Moyuka Uchijima produced a stunning run to the Madrid quarterfinals in May, she hasn’t won a match at tour level. Sara Bejlek, at 19-years-old, recently picked up a WTA 125K title in Croatia, and she’s won eight of her last 10 matches. Especially as a home favourite in Prague, where the crowd will doubtless be right behind her, the Czech youngster might well fancy her chances to upset the higher ranked player. Look for Bejlek to reach the second round.
Prediction: Bejlek in 3
Astra Sharma vs Ann Li
Head-to-head: first meeting
Ann Li has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts in 2025, and she just sneaks into this tournament as a seed after Dayana Yastremska withdrew from the tournament. After slipping outside the top 200 earlier in 2025, Astra Sharma has regained her form and won her first tour-level match of the season in Hamburg last week. Both players are adjusting from clay courts to hard courts this week, and the stylistic change might favour the American who has more experience. Sharma is 6-22 on hard courts throughout her career, though she did lose just eight games in qualifying here. Still, Li should have too much for the Australian.
Prediction: Li in 2
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Marie Bouzkova vs Gao Xinyu
Head-to-head: first meeting
Gao Xinyu’s ranking has hovered around the Top 150 mark for much of 2025, while Marie Bouzkova has been at the mercy of brutal draws throughout the year — losing her early round Grand Slam matches to Mirra Andreeva, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka. The Czech #3 performs well at home, and should be the heavy favourite to win. Interestingly, she has chosen to play at Prague instead of the WTA 500 event in Washington D.C. this week, where she is defending a hefty amount of points as last year’s finalist. There may be some pressure on her shoulders as a result.
Prediction: Bouzkova in 2
Main photo credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
