Casper Ruud vs Shintaro Mochizuki Tokyo Prediction 9/25/2025 Today’s Tennis Picks

Fourth seed Casper Ruud will face Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki in the first round of the Japan Open in Tokyo. The match is scheduled for Thursday, September 25. Here’s our Casper Ruud vs Shintaro Mochizuki prediction. This preview will also include a Casper Ruud vs Shintaro Mochizuki pick.

Casper Ruud vs Shintaro Mochizuki Preview

Casper Ruud is the number four seed in Tokyo. This will be his fourth appearance at the Japan Open. Ruud was knocked out in the first round stage twice, competing in this tournament in previous editions and reached the round of 16 in 2023.

Ruud has compiled 30 wins and 12 losses in 2025. His season’s highlight was winning a first Masters 1000 title in Madrid during the clay swing. He was a runner-up in Dallas in what remains his best result on a hard court this season. Ruud will arrive in Tokyo after representing Team Europe at the Laver Cup. He played three matches in the competition, winning once in singles and once in doubles.

Shintaro Mochizuki is a wild card entrant at the Japan Open. This is his fourth appearance at his home tournament. The 22-year-old has lost twice in the first-round stage in Tokyo, but reached the semifinals back in 2023, beating Taylor Fritz and Alexei Popyrin in back-to-back matches before losing to Aslan Karatseva.

Mochizuki has compiled 37 wins and 23 losses in 2025. Some of his best results have come at the Challenger level, where he captured the Noumea Challenger at the start of the season and was a runner-up in Bangalore and Nottingham. 

Casper Ruud vs Shintaro Mochizuki Head-To-Head

Ruud and Mochizuki have never played on the ATP level.

Casper Ruud vs Shintaro Mochizuki Prediction

Ruud sits almost 100 spots above Mochizuki in the rankings, but we are not sleeping on the Japanese wild card in this match. Mochizuki is incredibly talented and regards this surface as his favorite, and he’s put together some exceptional performances this season at the Challenger level and went on that astonishing run to the semis in this tournament two seasons ago.