Reilly Opelka is finally back and at least for now, he’s proven to be a decent threat both on grass and hard courts. The ATP 500 in Washington is an event he’s never done particularly well at, can he change it in the 2024 edition? Will James Duckworth push the former World No. 17? We also predict the rest of the day’s matches in Washington, split between two other articles. One features Denis Shapovalov vs Roberto Bautista Agut and the other features Emil Ruusuvuori vs Borna Coric.
ATP Washington Day 1 Predictions
Aslan Karatsev vs Cristian Garin
Head-to-head: Garin 1-0
Aslan Karatsev is just 2-8 for the year and will need to start winning soon to avoid a massive fall in the rankings. The good thing for the Russian is that he looked okay in Atlanta to kick off the hard-court season, so maybe things are heading in the right direction by now. Cristian Garin beat him on a hard court back in 2017, but nowadays it seems like that should be a relatively workable draw for Karatsev on this surface. He really needs this win.
Prediction: Karatsev in 3
Christopher O’Connell vs Harold Mayot
Head-to-head: First meeting
Christopher O’Connell struggled with a shoulder issue around May and has only played two matches since. At Wimbledon he lost in 90 minutes to Taylor Fritz, but his performance against Max Purcell in Atlanta suggested he might be coming back to decent shape. Harold Mayot is kind of exactly the draw he wants right now, a player who won’t hit him off the court. O’Connell still needs to be cautious though as the Frenchman sometimes grinds his way to wins he doesn’t seem like he could get on paper.
Prediction: O’Connell in 3
Reilly Opelka vs James Duckworth
Head-to-head: Duckworth 1-0
The Reilly Opelka comeback seems to be progressing at a pretty nice pace. The serve is still fantastic and his aggressive return strategy works fine when he can just link a few points together once per set. Of course the sample size is still relatively slim but he’s looking like he could return back to where he was a few years ago. James Duckworth isn’t going to be an easy opponent for him, but it’s someone Opelka could just have a bit too much quality for in the end.
Prediction: Opelka in 2
Main Photo Credit: Jeff Romance/Palm Beach Post/USAToday Network
