Americans Sebastian Korda and Reilly Opelka will be in action in the Delray Beach quarterfinals on Friday. They will try to hold off Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie and French veteran Adrian Mannarino, respectively.
(1) Cameron Norrie vs. (5) Sebastian Korda
This has proven to be a successful matchup for Sebastian Korda. He played Cameron Norrie a couple of weeks ago and gave the Brit a proper shellacking in the first round of the Australian Open (6-3, 6-0, 6-4). They also met at this tournament last year; Korda won that encounter in straight sets, as well.
Korda has been in good form so far in 2022 and he has traditionally played well in events in his home state of Florida. He made the final in Delray last year, when he lost to Hubi Hurkacz, and he also made a run to the quarters at the Miami Masters in 2021.
Norrie has endured a bit of a slow start to the season. Until Rotterdam last week, he had won no matches this year. He secured a pair of wins there and another this week over Oscar Otte to earn his spot in the quarters. With Korda enjoying good form and playing in front of the home crowd, this one should go to the American without much fuss.
Cheryl pick: Korda in 2
Ricky pick: Korda in 3
(2) Reilly Opelka vs. (7) Adrian Mannarino
Adrian Mannarino is probably less than thrilled at the prospect of facing Reilly Opelka on a hard court in the United States for the second consecutive week. The two men met in the quarters in Dallas a week ago; the eventual champion Opelka breezed through the match in easy straight sets.
This will be the third meeting between the two men; Opelka has won both, although Mannarino took a set in their 2019 encounter. The Frenchman has had a good start to the year. He made his way to the round of 16 at the Australian Open, where he met eventual champion Rafael Nadal. The two men contested one of the greatest tiebreakers of all time in the first set, which the Spaniard finally won 16-14.
Opelka finds himself on a bit of a roll at the moment. He secured his third career title on Sunday in Dallas, and while fatigue could be a factor the American isn’t exactly known for playing exhausting baseline rallies. With home-court advantage and winning momentum on his side, Opelka should add a third win to his tally against Mannarino.
Cheryl pick: Opelka in 3
Ricky pick: Opelka in 3
WWW?
I’ll take Korda in 2; Opelka in 2.