2019 Qatar champion Roberto Bautista Agut braces for a colossal opener against towering American Reilly Opelka in the first round of the ATP Doha Open on Monday, March 8. The match is yet to be scheduled. Get the live streaming options of this Roberto Bautista Agut v Reilly Opelka match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Roberto Bautista Agut v Reilly Opelka Head to Head
The head-to-head is tied at 1-1, with both matches coming in 2019 season. Agut won the pair’s first meeting at the Shanghai Masters, but Opelka restored parity with a three-set win on the indoor courts of Basel. Both matches it must be noted went beyond 22 games.
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Bautista Agut Hits Speed Bump
Both Roberto Bautista Agut and David Goffin failed to adapt to the slow conditions in Rotterdam just a couple of days after contesting the championship match in Montpellier. Bautista Agut failed to add to his nine career titles in south of France, surrendering a one-set lead to Goffin who ultimately held his nerve in three sets.
The Spaniard made a swift return to the courts at the ATP 500 event in the Netherlands, but he was in pensive mood. He was well beaten by the maverick Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The Next Gen star broke at will throughout the contest, fashioning eight chances and converting four opportunities.
Bautista Agut won 59% of first serve points, and 45% behind his second delivery. Those were some very low numbers, even lower than in his shocking defeat to Radu Albot in the Australian Open first round. But he arrives in Doha with fond memories.
The 32-year-old won the 2019 edition of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, beating Matteo Berrettini, Stan Wawrinka and world no.1 Novak Djokovic en route to the title. He hasn’t won another trophy since triumphing on the Middle Eastern city.
Can a return to Qatar reinvigorate the Spaniard?
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Opelka Set For Middle East Debut
Reilly Opelka has never before played the Middle Eastern swing. That is largely due to his personal preference of playing in North America after the year’s first Grand Slam. But after major reshuffle of the tennis calendar, the New York Open was cancelled along with other tournaments played in American continent in February.
The Delray Beach Open was moved and played in January. Opelka was the reigning champion in Florida, but did not defend his title due to a knee injury he sustained at the end of last year.
That created room for the Doha-Dubai doubleheader to be slotted in the month of March. With the imminent postponement of the Indian Wells Masters, Opelka has also altered his schedule and will play at the prestigious ATP 250 event in Doha.
The towering American is naturally at home on a fast hard court. He earned over half of his total wins on the surface in each of the last three seasons.
But he has a negative win-loss record on the eve of his first round match at the Qatar Open. Last week he lost to Marton Fucsovics in three tiebreak sets, in a match that featured one service break for either player.
Bautista Agut v Opelka Prediction and Tip
Going with games market should be a no brainer and a smart choice in this matchup. Despite Bautista Agut being a very efficient returner, he won’t have the luxury of winning many points on Opelka’s serve. Both of their previous two matches have gone over 22 games.
Tip: Over 21.5 games: 5/6 (bet365)
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The 2021 ATP Doha Open will be played from March 8 to 14. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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