World number six Daniil Medvedev will have a fight on his hands when he takes on American and world number 36 Reilly Opelka in the second round of the St. Petersburg Open. This match will be played on Thursday, October 15 and around 3 pm local time (1 pm BST or 8 am Eastern Time). Get the live streaming options of this Daniil Medvedev v Reilly Opelka match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
Looking to watch the St. Petersburg Open live streaming online?
- For tennis fans in the UK, Europe, Australia & elsewhere go to bet365 > Tennis > Live Streaming here* to watch & bet on the ATP & WTA tennis live.
- Get all the other St. Petersburg Open Live Streaming Options Here
[the_ad id=”14063″]
*Geo-restrictions apply & pre-funded account needed
Daniil Medvedev v Reilly Opelka Head to Head
There have been two previous matches between Medvedev and Opelka and while the Russian has won both of them, things haven’t been that easy.
In the first at the 2017 Washington Open, Medvedev needed three sets and two tie-breakers including one in the final set to get past Opelka. The tie-breaker by itself went the distance with the Russian only able to eke out an 8-6 victory.
The second match at the 2019 Miami Masters saw three tie-breakers! The only piece of good news for Medvedev is the final set tie-breaker was a one-sided one, with Opelka not winning a single point.
Also Read:
Medvedev Looking to Arrest Form Slide
Sure, he won his opening round match here against Richard Gasquet, but Medvedev looked far from convincing in the first two sets against the Frenchman.
In the first set, Medvedev didn’t earn himself a single break-point, and when his opponent held to love to make it 4-3 and then broke the Russian on his third break-point the writing seemed to be on wall.
After all, Medvedev had entered the St. Petersburg Open on the back on three losses on the bounce. Since going down to Dominic Thiem in straight sets in the US Open semifinal, the world number six had fallen to Ugo Humbert in the first round of the Hamburg Open and then lost to Marton Fucsovics in the French Open opener.
Medvedev had last faced such a wretched run in knockout tournaments in May 2019, again on clay, before he had come back strongly to go on a hard court rampage. While we are still some way away from that sort of a comeback, Medvedev made a smaller one against Gasquet.
After breaking his opponent once in the second set and squaring things off, Medvedev then went on a breaking spree to clinch the final set 6-0. Opelka would be a trickier opponent but
[the_ad id=”30344″]
Opelka Struggles against 308th-Ranked Serdarusic
Croatia’s Nino Serdarusic was invited to feature at the ill-fated Adria Tour earlier this year but when he finally made it to the main draw of this competition through the qualifiers and drawn to face Opelka it looked like his first main draw appearance was going to end rather quickly.
It turned out to be a bitter battle. Serdarusic stunned Opelka in the first set and then offered no breaking opportunities in the second set in a match of big-servers. Even in the tie-breaker, Opelka managed just a single mini-break to take it to the third.
The result became a foregone conclusion after a now-resurgent Opelka crashed through his opponent’s serve twice and clinched it in three.
That kind of a performance, however, might not help against a player of the nature of Medvedev who would have grown in confidence from the shift in the surface and that final set win. Can Opelka also up the ante?
Medvedev v Opelka Prediction and Tip
The odds indicate a one-sided contest, with Medvedev starting out at 2/11 but that might not be the case. Opelka’s serving could be difficult to penetrate and we could see a longish contest.
Tip: Over 22.5 games in the match: 8/11 (bet365)
[the_ad id=”30513″]
The St. Petersburg Open 2020 will be played from October 12 to 18. You can watch & bet on the St. Petersburg Open here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
Be the first to comment