Jiri Lehecka vs Reilly Opelka Prediction Prediction ATP Brisbane Tennis Picks 1/5/25

Jiri Lehecka is competing in Brisbane for the first time and it's been a hugely successful week thus far as the Czech made it all the way to the final.

It's his second successive final on Australian soil. Lehecka won a maiden ATP title this time last year in Adelaide.

Lehecka started his campaign in Brisbane with a straight sets win over third seed and last year's runner-up Holger Rune. That match lasted 21 games.

In the second round, he beat Yoshihito Nishioka in three sets. That remains the only match where he dropped a set at this tournament.

Lehecka tamed the big-serving Nicolas Jarry in the quarterfinal, winning 6-4, 6-4. In the semifinal, he benefitted from a retirement from Grigor Dimitrov while leading 6-4, 4-4.

Reilly Opelka Preview

Reilly Opelka recorded his 100th ATP match win on Saturday in a pure serving feast against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The match took 23 games to decide and as expected featured one tie-break set.

Opelka hit 29 winners and the same number of unforced errors in the match. He out-aced Mpetshi Perricard, tallying 12 aces and two double faults.

The American landed 70% of first serves and won 84% of first-serve points (38/45). He won 68% of second-serve points (13/19) while saving all four break points he faced.

Opelka had a good day behind the return, winning 32% of points (22/69) and converting one of two break points.

Prior to Saturday's semifinal win, Opelka had also beaten Agustin Gomez, Matteo Arnaldi and perhaps most impressively Novak Djokovic who was the top seed in the tournament in the semifinals.

Jiri Lehecka vs Reilly Opelka Head-To-Head

• Lehecka and Opelka have not played against each other at any level.

Jiri Lehecka vs Reilly Opelka Prediction

It's been a week of comebacks already in this new tennis season, with Kei Nishikori reaching his first ATP final in six years. Now Reilly Opelka, who is coming off a stonking win over former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and the in-form Mpetshi Perricard, will contest a first ATP final since 2022. We started the week with four top 20 players in Brisbane, but the final will be between 28th-ranked Jiri Lehecka and 293rd-ranked Opelka.

Opelka has been extremely unfortunate to be sidelined by a serious hip injury in the last two years while at the peak of his game. His absence from the tour had a detrimental impact on his ranking. It hasn't sunk in yet that he will be playing a final within six months of his return. He's clearly playing top-20 level tennis in Brisbane with his humongous serve being the bedrock of his success this week. The American has only been broken once all tournament and another good serving day should be sufficient in his title quest.