Daniil Medvedev vs. Reilly Opelka – Prediction – ATP, St. Petersburg (Russia) – 15.10.2020

Preview and players comparison.

Being the defending champion and playing at home makes Daniil Medvedev the firm favorite here. That said, Reilly Opelka nicked set in his previous two meetings with the Russian, and he is once again expected to offer a stern challenge.

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Top seed Daniil Medvedev made a slow start to his first-round match in St.Petersburg as he lost the first set to Richard Gasquet. However, the Russian raised his game and dropped only three games in the following two sets to secure his progression, 3-6 6-3 6-0.
With this win, the Russian #1 Daniil Medvedev ended his three-match losing run and got back to winning ways. That said, two of those three losses came on clay — his least preferred surface. World #6 Daniil Medvedev reached at least the quarterfinal of ATP St.Petersburg during his recent two visits in 2018 and 2019, and he even lifted the title here without dropping a set last year. The last and only time Daniil Medvedev attempted to defend a title on the main tour was in Cincinnati Masters a couple of months ago, where he failed in the quarterfinal against Roberto Bautista Agut, despite dominating the majority of the contest. Daniil Medvedev has got a terrific record on indoor hardcourts, having won an impressive 99 matches at the expense of only 49 defeats so far in his career. Moreover, he has won at least ten matches on the surface in each of the last five seasons.

Reilly Opelka also made a slow start to his first-round match on Wednesday as the Croatian qualifier Nino Serdarusic won the first set and forced a tiebreaker in the second. The American fired a whopping 26 aces and won an impressive 91% of his first-serve points to overcome this tough challenge, 3-6 7-6 6-2. This is a much-needed win for the big-serving Reilly Opelka, who hadn’t won a match since retiring from his quarterfinal match against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Cincinnati Masters. Reilly Opelka enjoys playing on indoor hardcourts as he went unbeaten on the surface in 2018 (9-0) and won 11 out of 14 matches in 2019. In fact, he won the maiden ATP Tour title of his career on the indoor hardcourts in ATP New York last year.

Match Info.