The second round will be completed on Thursday at the 2020 St Petersburg Open. Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev faces a tough opponent in the big-serving American Reilly Opelka. Will the defending champion pull through? We also have predictions for the other Day 4 matches, including Karen Khachanov vs Aslan Karatsev.
Alexander Bublik vs Milos Raonic
Head-to-head: First meeting
Alexander Bublik had to work really hard for his first-round win against Mackenzie McDonald, coming back from a 2-6 loss in the opening set. But the Kazakh is always dangerous with his flamboyant style and a very unpredictable attitude. Milos Raonic was also forced to dig deep and save five set points against the rising American star Jeffrey John Wolf. But as the Canadian regained control and won the first set tie-break, he went on to dominate in the second. A slight concern is a right leg injury that Raonic had to take a medical time out on in the second set against Wolf. I don’t think it’s overly concerning but it’s enough to pick Bublik in a match where the serve will be everything.
Prediction: Bublik in 3
Ugo Humbert vs Andrey Rublev
Head-to-head: Rublev 1-0
Ugo Humbert will be happy to have pulled through Pavel Kotov in the opening round, as his standard of play wasn’t very good at all. The lefty Frenchman will be facing an uphill battle against Andrey Rublev here. The Russian has been playing the best tennis of his life throughout the whole 2020 season and should find the conditions here suit his dominating forehand. Humbert’s game can be quite tricky to face but lately, it appears that outside of the top players, there is pretty much no one who can make dents in Rublev’s armor.
Prediction: Rublev in 2
Daniil Medvedev vs Reilly Opelka
Head-to-head: First meeting
After a win-less clay-court season, Daniil Medvedev is coming back to a site where he triumphed last year. His first-round win over Richard Gasquet wasn’t clean but the Russian was able to gradually improve and find his rhythm. I expect something similar here. Medvedev is not the best retriever in the world against big serves but he is good enough to make Opelka hit the extra shot whenever a rally gets going. The American barely pulled through Nino Serdarusic and wasn’t impressive from the ground at all. Expect the top seed to pull through but it might be tough with how close the Opelka serve can get his matches to be.
Prediction: Medvedev in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
