2021 Australian Open Second Round – Reilly Opelka vs Taylor Fritz Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
Where is Reilly Opelka vs Taylor Fritz taking place? Melbourne Park, Melbourne
When is Reilly Opelka vs Taylor Fritz on and what time does it start? Wednesday 10th February, 2021 – not before TBC (UK)
Where can I get tickets for Reilly Opelka vs Taylor Fritz? Click here to reach the official 2021 Australian Open ticket selection
What channel is Reilly Opelka vs Taylor Fritz on? The 2021 Australian Open will be televised on Eurosport so it is worth checking their schedule for this specific match
Where can I stream Reilly Opelka vs Taylor Fritz in the UK? Sky customers can stream this match on the Sky Go app. Alternatively, the match can be streamed to subscribers of Eurosport Player, either on the official website or as an add-on to an Amazon Prime subscription
THE LOWDOWN
REILLY OPELKA
- 23-year-old Reilly Opelka was challenged by veteran Lu Yen-hsun but ultimately outclassed his first round opponent to win in straight sets, swatting down 18 aces in the process.
- The world number 38 takes some warming up and lost in the second round of the Great Ocean Road Open to Botic van de Zandschulp last week in a match he would have expected to win.
TAYLOR FRITZ
- It was much better from world number 31 Taylor Fritz in first round match against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, winning in four sets to suggest he is on his way out of some poor form.
- The 23-year-old has faced fellow American Reilly Opelka on four previous occasions, leading their head-to-head record 3-1 after a straight-sets victory at the European Open last year.
THE PREDICTION
Reilly Opelka and Taylor Fritz will know plenty about each other’s games coming into this second round Australian open meeting, their fifth match together already at 23 years old. This is their first five-set encounter, though, and this match looks likely to utilise at least four of them if not go all the way to a decider. Neither is in particularly hot form right now but it will be all about the baseline battle here and that is where world number 31 Fritz should find the most joy. For want of a result, Opelka’s service game should see a tiebreak come into play here. Therefore, you could take both players to win a set and combine that with a tiebreak in the match to find some good value here without picking a result that should fall Fritz’ way but could just as easily not.
