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Match details
Fixture: (4) Reilly Opelka vs (5) Taylor Fritz
Date: 30 July 2021
Tournament: Truist Atlanta Open 2021
Round: Quarterfinals
Venue: Atlanta, United States
Category: ATP 250
Surface: Outdoor hard
Prize money: $555,995
Live telecast: USA - ESPN & Tennis Channel
Reilly Opelka vs Taylor Fritz preview
Reilly Opelka will take on Taylor Fritz in an all-American quarter-final clash at the 2021 Atlanta Open on Friday.
Opelka, seeded fourth in Atlanta, received a bye in the opening round. He then defeated countryman Bjorn Fratangelo in two tiebreakers in the second round on Wednesday.
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Opelka's serve was at its vicious best against Fratangelo. The 6'11" giant racked up a whopping 25 aces in the match and won 88% of his first-serve points.
The 23-year-old will be pleased by the fact that he dropped just 11 points on serve against Fratangelo. However, Opelka's return game left a lot to be desired as he could muster only 16 points on Fratangelo's serve.
Opelka has had a mediocre season so far, registering just eight wins and 12 defeats. The American has fallen at the first hurdle on a whopping eight occasions. He also failed to win a single match during the grass season.
Opelka's best results surprisingly came on clay as he made the semifinals of the Italian Open. As such, the fourth seed will be keen to get his season back on track in Atlanta.
Taylor Fritz, meanwhile, has registered back-to-back wins in Atlanta already. The American beat Evgeny Donskoy in the first round and Steve Johnson in the second.
Fritz required three sets and almost two hours to stave off a challenge from Johnson. He racked up 17 aces, won a staggering 90% of his first-serve points and did not get broken throughout the match.
The 23-year-old was very effective on return too; he broke Johnson's serve three times during the course of the match.
Reilly Opelka vs Taylor Fritz head-to-head
Taylor Fritz leads Reilly Opelka 4-1 in the head-to-head. Their most recent encounter took place at this year's Australian Open, where Fritz clawed back a two-sets-to-one deficit to beat Opelka in the second round.
Opelka's only victory against Fritz was back in 2019 in Tokyo.
Reilly Opelka vs Taylor Fritz prediction
Taylor Fritz has enjoyed plenty of success against Reilly Opelka in the past due to his ability to read the lanky American's serve. Fritz has managed to get plenty of returns back into play, thereby neutralizing Opelka's biggest weapon.
Fritz also possesses a mammoth serve and should be able to win cheap points considering Opelka's weakness on return.
The key for Opelka will be to stay with Fritz on the scoreboard and try to force a tiebreaker. But Fritz has a much more versatile game and should be able to eke out a win.
Prediction: Taylor Fritz to win in three sets.
