Who can stop the Big Servers?

Perhaps our Lucky Loser, Majchrzak?

Majchrzak has already faced someone with a huge serve in this tournament - Halys in qualifying, which was a tough loss from a leading position. Well, another chance as a lucky loser, fortunately getting to face Altmaier in conditions that do not suit the German. A solid match from Majchrzak, but let's not go crazy just yet! Opelka, similarly, had a great matchup against Sweeny, who was too vulnerable on his own serve while winning around five points total himself on return.

As I'm sure you have noticed by now (either by results or my repeated mentions in previews), players with a big serve do well here in Brisbane. Fast conditions that are serve-friendly, there is a roof that limits the "disturbances" of the natural elements ;) Combine that with baseline players lacking rhythm, and you've got a recipe for success for the players who can launch cannonballs. However, this is not an easy matchup for Opelka. Majchrzak is a pretty sharp returner and reads the game well. If he can get enough serves back into play, he is definitely the stronger player from the baseline (no surprise here). However, the question remains... will he be able to achieve this while keeping his own serve? It's really tough here, even for the good returners. And then, you have a double fault + a string of no first serves on your own serve, perhaps combined with a return winner or two from your big opponent - trouble. Something that should be mentioned as well is that Majchrzak can become frustrated on court, something that Opelka can punish if he drops his focus! Overall, not an easy match for either player...