After staying out of action for a significant amount of time, Reilly Opelka made a comeback to the Tour this year. However, so far, he has managed to play only three tournaments. Although he made a strong comeback in Newport, reaching the semis, Opelka struggled a bit in the following two tournaments. Next up for him is the Cincinnati Masters, and over here, he’s all set to take on his compatriot Ben Shelton in the first round. Both the players have an explosive style of play, so we can expect a few fireworks in this match. Who’s the favorite, though, in this All-American clash?

Ben Shelton vs Reilly Opelka: Preview

Shelton has already won a title this year in Houston and he has reached three SFs and two QFs this season. How far can he go in Cincinnati? Well, he doesn’t have great momentum at the moment! Shelton was defeated by Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the R32 of the Canadian Open. Last time here at the Cincinnati Masters, the 21-year-old star was shown the exit door in the R32. So, he’ll be keen to make a longer run this time around.

Opelka’s biggest rival over the last few months has been injuries. A fit Opelka is a real threat to even the best of the game! He played his first match here as an 18-year-old wild card in 2016 and then reached the QF four years later. Opelka will be entering this match after his R32 defeat to Australia’s Jordan Thompson at the Citi Open. Now, it’ll be interesting to see how well he counters Shelton’s flare in this epic contest.

Shelton vs Opelka: Head-to-Head

Shelton and Opelka haven’t yet played against each other in their careers. Both the players play a similar brand of tennis and this is what’s going to make this contest interesting. Who has the higher probability of taking the first step forward in the H2H at Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason, Ohio?

Prediction: Shelton to win in three sets

Aces win the races! Well, that has been the mantra for both of these American tennis stars. They love serving big, 6 feet 11 inches Opelka can generate some real power behind his serves. Even in his last match although the result wasn’t in his favor, he still managed to hit 9 aces against Thompson. Even for Shelton, serves are his biggest weapon. So far he has hit 420 aces this season and out of those 235 came on the hard courts. So, we get an idea about what we’re going to witness in this nail-biting contest.

Shelton who currently ranks 14 in the world has a win-loss record of 27-19, while Opelka (322) has a win-loss record of only 5-4. Looking at the current form and the number of matches they have played this season, ‘Big Ben’ looks a bit bigger than the 6ft 11 inches at the moment. However, we all know what Opelka is capable of. Apart from serving aces with an incredible consistency he also has a good volley and can cover extreme ends of the court with his long reach. This will keep Shelton on his toes in this match.

Talking about Shelton’s own strengths apart from his powerful serves, he also has a powerful and consistent forehand and backhand in his armory. Shelton is comfortable moving to the net off his powerful groundstrokes to finish the points. He has also won 1 title this season, although that was on a different surface, but still, he’ll be a bit more confident than Opelka. So, looking at the current form, Shelton has the edge here.