Indian Wells 2025: Reilly Opelka vs Roman Safiullin preview, head-to-head, prediction and pick

Match Details

Fixture: Reilly Opelka vs Roman Safiullin

Date: March 5, 2025

Tournament: BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells 2025)

Round: First Round (Round of 128)

Venue: Indian Wells Tennis Garden, California, United States

Category: WTA 1000

Surface: Hardcourt (outdoor)

Prize Money: $9,693,540

Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - TSN, DAZN

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Reilly Opelka vs Roman Safiullin preview

Reilly Opelka of the United States will take on Roman Safiullin of Russia in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Wednesday, March 5.

Opelka made a comeback from a long injury lay-off in 2024. He started the current year on a promising note, reaching the final of Brisbane International. He then reached the second round of the Australian Open, losing in a five-set thriller to Tomas Machac. Opelka then reached the quarterfinal of the Dallas Open and the round of 16 of Delray Beach Open.

Safiullin, meanwhile, has had a pretty disappointing year so far. He lost in the first round of each of the tournaments he entered (Adelaide International, Australian Open, Qatar Open and Dubai Tennis Championship). As a result, his ranking has plummetted from a career-high of 36th in 2024 to 69th at the moment. The Russian will look to improve his performance in Indian Wells.

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Reilly Opelka vs Roman Safiullin head-to-head

Opelka and Safiullin have never faced each other in an ATP level match. Hence, their head-to-head stands at 0-0 at the moment.

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Reilly Opelka vs Roman Safiullin odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap bets	Total games
Reilly Opelka	TBD	TBD	TBD
Roman Safiullin	TBD	TBD	TBD

(Odds will be added when available)

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Reilly Opelka vs Roman Safiullin prediction

Both Opelka and Safiullin possess big serves. Hence, one can expect to see a lot of easy points being won by both players during the course of the match. However, Safiullin arguably has better touch and volleying skills, which might prove to be crucial.

Still, Opelka has a decidedly more powerful serve, which should put Safiullin's returning skills to a stern test. Hence, the American will have a distinct advantage over his opponent. Opelka's ability to dictate terms with his serve-forehand combination should be a very crucial factor in Wednesday's match. Moreover, playing at home will be an additional advantage for the him.

It remains to be seen whether the Russian can withstand the barrage of Opelka's serves on Wednesday and hurt the latter enough with his own. As of now, Opelka remains the slight favorite to reach the second round.

Pick: Opelka to win in three sets.