Australian Open 2022: Denis Shapovalov vs Reilly Opelka preview, head-to-head and prediction

Denis Shapovalov and Reilly Opelka face each other in the third round of the Australian Open

Match Details

Fixture: [14] Denis Shapovalov vs [23] Reilly Opelka

Date: 21 January 2022

Tournament: Australian Open

Round: Third round (Round of 32)

Venue: Melbourne Park

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Hard

Prize Money: $75,000,000

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Six, Sony Liv

Denis Shapovalov vs Reilly Opelka preview

Shapovalov faces a tough test against Opelka

14th seed Denis Shapovalov will face 23rd seed Reilly Opelka in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday.

The Canadian has been making steady progress the past few years. He reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon last year and finished the season ranked 14th in the world.

Shapovalov had a poor start to his 2022 season, losing his first ATP Cup singles match to Dan Evans. But he bounced back strongly by beating Jan-Lennard Struff and Roman Safiullin to help Canada reach the finals. Shapovalov then beat Pablo Carreno Busta to seal Canada's maiden ATP Cup triumph.

The 22-year-old has had to work hard for his wins in Melbourne this week. He defeated Serbia's Laslo Djere in four sets in his opener before surviving a five-set thriller against Kwon Soon-woo.

Shapovalov survives in five 🙌

🇨🇦 @denis_shapo prevails in an epic 7-6(6) 6-7(3) 6-7(6) 7-5 6-2 battle with Soonwoo Kwon after four hours and 25 minutes!

#AusOpen • #AO2022
🎥: @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis https://t.co/OvOtSIOMdh

Opelka began his season at the Melbourne Summer Set, where he lost in the second round to Maxime Cressy. The towering American then headed to Sydney, where he won his opener against Australian wildcard Jordan Thompson in straight sets.

Opelka beat compatriot Brandon Nakashima to set up a semifinal clash with Andy Murray. The American took the first set against the Brit but Murray bounced back to win in three.

Pure emotion 🗣

🇬🇧 @andy_murray will go for title No.47 after a 6-7(6) 6-4 6-4 semifinal win over Reilly Opelka in Sydney 👏

#SydneyTennis 🔜 #AusOpen https://t.co/cd26c1s6d7

Opelka launched his Australian Open campaign with a straight-sets win over Kevin Anderson. He followed it up with another straight-sets victory, this time against Dominik Koepfer.

Denis Shapovalov vs Reilly Opelka head-to-head

Friday's match will be the first meeting between the two players, so their head-to-head stands at 0-0. The winner of the match will face either third seed Alexander Zverev or Radu Albot in the fourth round.

Denis Shapovalov vs Reilly Opelka prediction

Denis Shapovalov and Reilly Opelka are both huge servers, as evidenced by the fact that they have served 42 and 41 aces respectively in the tournament so far. Neither play is expected to drop serve too often.

Both also enjoy hitting big from the baseline. Shapovalov has a huge forehand but can leak errors under pressure. He is a much better mover than Opelka and that could give him the edge in this contest.

Opelka will undoubtedly test the Canadian, but Shapovalov should be able to come through this clash and advance to the fourth round.

Prediction: Shapovalov to win in four sets.

Also check out: Updated WTA WoMen's Tennis Rankings