Cristian Garin vs Alexander Ritschard Preview & Prediction | 2025 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships | First Round

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Clay-court specialist and former champion Cristian Garin meets Swiss hopeful Alexander Ritschard

Ranking points: ATP 250

Start date/time: Monday 31st March, 2025: UK – not before TBC / US ET – not before TBC / US PT – not before TBC

Venue: River Oaks Country Club, Houston, USA 

Surface: Outdoor clay

How to watch on TV: UK – Sky Sports Tennis / US – Tennis Channel

How to watch online: UK – Sky Go / US – Tennis Channel

Tickets: Visit this link for the latest Cristian Garin vs Alexander Ritschard ticket information

Cristian Garin vs Alexander Ritschard prediction

Wildcard Cristian Garin will be a clear favourite heading into his round one encounter with Alexander Ritschard. 

The 2019 champion boasts a 10-2 record in matches in Houston and his clay-court know-how means the 28-year-old Chilean will be very confident of coming up trumps against an undercooked Ritschard.

Garin is already acclimatised to the surface having reached the last four in a Challenger event in Merida last time out and his entry as a wildcard is likely to mean world No. 125 Ritschard’s losing run will stretch to four matches. 

The Swiss right-hander, who turned 31 last week, is featuring in just his second tournament since sustaining a shoulder injury in January and was most recently beaten in the first round of qualifying in Miami by Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti. 

This will be Ritschard’s first outing on clay in 2025 and we don’t expect a veteran of the Challenger circuit to produce what would undoubtedly be an upset despite being ranked 11 places above clay-expert Garin in the current rankings. 

Garin is a former World No.17 and with all five of his ATP Tour titles coming on the red dirt, we are backing him to win his first-ever meeting with Ritschard and set up a tasty clash with top-seed Tommy Paul. 

Cristian Garin vs Alexander Ritschard tip: Cristian Garin to win in under 2.5 sets