Lorenzo Musetti vs Reilly Opelka – US Open Tennis Prediction and Pick 8/26/24

Lorenzo Musetti will play Reilly Opelka in the first round of the 2024 US Open. The match is scheduled for Monday, August 26, 2024. Here’s our Lorenzo Musetti vs Reilly Opelka prediction. This article will also contain a Lorenzo Musetti vs Reilly Opelka pick.

Lorenzo Musetti vs Reilly Opelka Preview

Lorenzo Musetti has enjoyed a fantastic 2024 campaign. He is back in the ATP’s top 20 and can potentially push for a spot at the ATP Finals in his home country at the end of the season. He is currently 15th in the race, which accounts for points in the current year.

Musetti became a Grand Slam semifinalist at Wimbledon and won a bronze medal for Italy at the Olympics earlier this month. The World No. 18 has never fared well at the US Open in his three previous trips, managing a career-best result in 2022 when he made the third round. Last year, a qualifier knocked him out in the first round. 

Reilly Opelka is playing in his first Grand Slam tournament in two years. He spent the past 18 months (and more) recovering from multiple injuries, including a career-threatening hip injury that put him out of action for the whole of 2023.

Opelka made his return on the ATP Tour at the ATP 250 in Newport last month, where he impressed on his run to the semifinal. Since then, he’s been relatively quiet, winning just two matches in four tournaments. He arrives in New York on the back of three successive defeats. Can he turn his fortunes around and score an odds-defying win?

Lorenzo Musetti vs Reilly Opelka Head-To-Head

• Opelka leads Musetti 3-0 in their head-to-head, having won their last two matches on hard courts, including the 2021 US Open, in straight sets.

Lorenzo Musetti vs Reilly Opelka Prediction

Opelka is using a protected ranking to play the 2024 US Open after his ranking plummeted to outside the Top 300 during his injury break. On hard courts, he remains a perennial threat, and with his humongous serve, he’ll keep matches close, so Musetti must be very patient in this match.

The Italian has a poor record against the American big server, losing all three previous head-to-head meetings. But it is pertinent to note that those matches all took place while Opelka was playing with a clean bill of health, and Musetti was still not as developed in his skillset as he is now. I’ll take the 18th seed to put Opelka to the sword on Monday.

Nur Said's Pick: Lorenzo Musetti in four sets