Doha 2021: Roberto Bautista Agut vs Reilly Opelka preview, head-to-head & prediction | Qatar ExxonMobil Open

Match details

Fixture: (5) Roberto Bautista Agut vs Reilly Opelka

Date: 8 March 2021

Tournament: Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2021

Round: First round (Round of 32)

Venue: Doha, Qatar

Category: ATP 250

Surface: Outdoor hardcourt

Prize money: $787,930

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | India - Eurosport

Roberto Bautista Agut vs Reilly Opelka preview

Fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut will begin his 2021 Qatar ExxonMobil Open campaign against America's Reilly Opelka.

The Spaniard is coming off a first-round defeat at the Rotterdam Open, where he was ousted in straight sets by countryman Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. But in the week before that Bautista Agut finished as the runner-up in Montpellier, losing to David Goffin in the final.

Many had expected Bautista Agut to carry his form into Rotterdam, but the 32-year-old failed to adjust to the relatively slower conditions in the Dutch city. Bautista Agut struggled on his serve, getting broken four times as Davidovich Fokina outplayed the senior Spaniard from start to finish.

At Doha, Bautista Agut is in the top half of the draw, along with Dominic Thiem, Andrey Rublev and Stan Wawrinka. If the World No. 13 is able to negotiate his first couple of rounds, he will likely take on Thiem in the quarterfinals.

But Reilly Opelka could have something to say about that, as the American is expected to give Bautista Agut a tough time in the first round.

Like the Spaniard, Opelka also participated in the Rotterdam Open and got knocked out in the first round. However, the American gave an extremely tough fight to Marton Fucsovics, who is into the Rotterdam semifinals at the time of writing.

Fucsovics needed three close tiebreakers to get the better of Opelka. Despite his loss, the American will take confidence from the fact that he served well and got broken just once throughout the match.

Roberto Bautista Agut vs Reilly Opelka head-to-head

Reilly Opelka

The head-to-head between Roberto Bautista Agut and Reilly Opelka is currently tied at 1-1. The two played each other twice in 2019, with both matches taking place on hardcourt.

Roberto Bautista Agut vs Reilly Opelka prediction

Roberto Bautista Agut generally struggles against big servers, and Reilly Opelka is arguably the biggest of them all at present. But the Spaniard is a solid returner off both wings and can also mix things up well, which could keep Opelka guessing.

Bautista Agut’s serve is not as solid as the rest of his game, and the American would look to exploit that.

Opelka’s groundstrokes, particularly his backhand, have improved over the past year, but they still lack the consistency to keep good defenders at bay. As such, the key for Opelka would be to go big at the smallest opportunity - something that he has the power and height to pull off.

Prediction: Reilly Opelka to win in three sets.