Interesting match, right? Nope..

With Opelka it’s rarely interesting to begin with, but if you add Shelton on top of that!

Simply a serve-dominated match, we’re not going to see a ton of rallies during this one. Opelka is back after a few weeks out and his first-round match was good quality, a bit rusty on serve in the first set but then it got better and he was clearly better than Quinn, plain and simple. With his style he’s a danger for everyone; on a good serving day he won’t get broken and can just play it out in tiebreaks. The problem is that Shelton is one of the most clutch players on tour and nobody wants to end up playing tiebreaks against him, we know what he’s like in those moments. He’s coming in off a title in Dallas as well, confidence is sky-high, especially since in the final he saved championship points, clutch! No tournament afterward though; he mentioned a right thigh injury, he had a strap in the Dallas semi but not in the final, I think it was just precaution (and since he got the title there was no point in pushing it). Shelton leads 2–0 in the H2H against Opelka, it’s tight every time and at the same time you don’t expect to see 15 breaks. I’d say today’s Shelton is more mature on court, he knows better how to tighten up his game on return and should normally get through, but I’m not forgetting that it’s a first round with a lot at stake and against a tricky opponent to face, really not easy at all. I see Shelton getting through but I do expect a close match...