Reilly Opelka vs Ben Shelton Preview & Prediction | 2024 Japan Open Tennis Championships | First Round

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We have an all-American clash in the first round in Tokyo as veteran Reilly Opelka will face the up and coming Ben Shelton

RANKING POINTS: ATP 500

START DATE/TIME: Thursday 26th September, 2024, UK – not before 3:00am / Wednesday 25th September, US ET – not before 10:00pm / Wednesday 25th September, US PT – not before 7:00pm

VENUE: Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan

SURFACE: Outdoor hard

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 Reilly Opelka vs Ben Shelton ticket information

REILLY OPELKA VS BEN SHELTON PREDICTION

We have a rematch from last month’s Cincinnati Open as Reilly Opelka and Ben Shelton meet for a second time. It was Shelton who won the first encounter as both sets went to tiebreak and the 21-year-old won them both. As is so often the case in Opelka’s matches, every game went with serve, and it was actually him who created more break points (five to Shelton’s two), but he could not quite force the break.

Opelka is working his way back up the rankings after various injuries and he will be keen to settle the score here. He actually led the way in many of the statistics in that match but Shelton just edged it in both tiebreaks.

This match will surely follow suit from a stylistic perspective given that the fact both are big and powerful dominant servers. Very few break points are likely and there is every chance we see more tiebreaks here unless one of them is woefully off-form. We marginally fancy Shelton but our preference is on over 24.5 games in this one.

REILLY OPELKA VS BEN SHELTON TIP: OVER 24.5 GAMES