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Match details
Fixture: (3) Reilly Opelka vs Gijs Brouwer.
Date: 8 April 2022.
Tournament: U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships 2022.
Round: Quarterfinals.
Venue: Houston, Texas, USA.
Category: ATP 250.
Surface: Clay.
Prize money: $665,330.
Live telecast: USA - ESPN 3 | UK - Amazon Prime Video.
Reilly Opelka vs Gijs Brouwer preview
Third seed Reilly Opelka will look to produce another dominant display in front of his home fans when he takes on the 361st-ranked Gijs Brouwer in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships Friday.
The 6'11'' American has produced a number of strong performances so far this season. Opelka reached the semifinals in Sydney before embarking on a title-winning campaign in Dallas. He went on to reach the final in Delray Beach as well, but couldn't overcome Cameron Norrie in the summit clash.
At Indian Wells, the World No. 18 went down to 21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round. His Miami Open sojourn was, however, cut short by a right shoulder injury that forced him to retire against Francisco Cerundolo in his opening match.
Opelka doesn't seem to have fully recovered from the injury yet and admittedly still feels the pain while serving. The 24-year-old struggled early on but dug deep to secure a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win against qualifier Mitchell Krueger in the second round at Houston on Wednesday.
Up next for Opelka is yet another qualifier, Gijs Brouwer, who had never played a tour-level match before coming to Houston this week. The unheralded Dutchman usually plies his trade on the ATP Challenger circuit and ITF Futures events and has a career-high ranking of 339 which he achieved last month.
But he has punched above his weight this week in the city of his birth. Brouwer upset the top seed and seventh seed in qualifying before knocking out Feliciano Lopez and JJ Wolf in the main draw.
With Opelka not at 100% physically, Brouwer will hope to capitalize and continue his remarkable run.
Reilly Opelka vs Gijs Brouwer head-to-head
Opelka and Brouwer have never squared off on the tour before, so their head-to-head is currently tied at 0-0.
Reilly Opelka vs Gijs Brouwer prediction
Despite being bothered by shoulder pain, Opelka had enough in the tank to beat Krueger in his opening match in Houston. He produced some monster kick serves on his way to a three-set win.
It wasn't his cleanest of performances by any means. Opelka had multiple hiccups throughout the 113-minute encounter but managed to come up with the goods on the big points after losing the first set. The comeback win would have boosted Opelka's confidence ahead of his match against a player who has already won four matches this week.
Brouwer has played some brilliant attacking tennis in Houston. Against Wolf in the second round, he landed 80% of his first serves and saved all three of the break points he faced.
He will enter this contest with a lot of momentum. But if Opelka can find his spots with his serve and gigantic forehands, he should be too strong for the Dutchman.
Prediction: Reilly Opelka to win in three sets.
