World No. 14, Denis Shapovalov of Canada, and the number 14 seed, will take on Reilly Opelka of the USA, the world number 29, and number 23 seed, in the third round of the 2022 Australian Open on Friday, January 21. Get the live streaming options of this Denis Shapovalov v Reilly Opelka match along with its preview, head-to-head, and tips here.
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Denis Shapovalov v Reilly Opelka Head to Head
The pair have never played each before. This will be the first match between the 22-year-old Canadian, and the American, who is two years older.
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Shapovalov Given Stern Test by South Korean
Shapovalov who had been forced to work hard for his passage into the second round by Laslo Djere of Serbia, was given an even tougher test by Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea, the world number 54, on Wednesday.
He began the match strongly, breaking Kwon in his opening service game and, when he broke again, seemed in complete control of the first set.
However, then he dropped his own serve and, serving for the set, dropped it again. He was grateful to win the subsequent tie-break.
The second set saw the pair swap breaks midway through it, and then Shapovalov had a set point saved. In the end it went to another tie-break, and this time it was Kwon who claimed it.
The third set followed almost exactly the same pattern – a break of serve apiece and a tie-break, which Kwon won again.
Realising he needed to up his game, Shapovalov began to put the Kwon serve under pressure in the fourth set, but although he held a number of break points, he could not convert any of them, until, with the South Korean serving to stay in the set, he finally made the breakthrough and levelled the match.
With Kwon now tiring, he finally took control of the match, breaking him early in the fifth set, and then once again to finally seal the win.
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Opelka Ends His Koepfer Hoodoo
By contrast, Opelka has reached the third round in Melbourne without dropping a set so far, proving too strong for the South African Kevin Anderson in the first round, to earn himself a meeting with Dominik Koepfer.
He had reason, ahead of their match, to be wary of the threat posed by the German, world number 53, given that he had lost all three of the previous matches between the two.
In the end, though, he won comfortably, leaning heavily into his serve, producing 18 aces, and winning 88% of points on his first serve.
He began hesitantly, dropping his opening service game, but was soon level again. Koepfer had five break points against him in one game, could not take any of them, and paid for that when the American broke him in turn to take the first set.
The German was broken early in the second set again, and that proved enough for Opelka, who consolidated his lead from there.
The third set developed into a service battle, but the German gave himself brief hope when he forced two set points.
Both were saved by Opelka, and, in the resulting tie-break, one dropped serve by the German was enough for the American, who clinched the win with his first match point.
Shapovalov v Opelka Prediction and Tip
Although Shapovalov is the higher ranked and seeded player, he has had struggles in both his matches so far in Melbourne, whilst the American has been relatively untroubled. If Opelka can get his serve working well, he could prove too strong for the Canadian.
Tip: Opelka to win: 1/1 (Click Here to Bet with bet365)
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The 2022 Australian will be played from January 17 to 30. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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