Week one of the clay-court swing will wrap up on Sunday with a pair of ATP 250 finals. Reilly Opelka and John Isner are squaring off in big-serving matchup at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, while David Goffin battles Alex Molcan in Marrakech.
Houston: (3) Reilly Opelka vs. (4) John Isner
Opelka and Isner will be facing each other for the sixth time in their careers and for the second time this season when they meet in the final of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. The head-to-head series stands at 4-1 in favor of Opelka, who has won each of their last four encounters. For pretty much any other two players on tour, their results would be nothing less than remarkable. For Opelka and Isner, they are nothing more than expected. Their last four matches have featured exclusively tiebreak sets; 12 sets, 12 tiebreakers. Opelka has won nine of them, including both in a 7-6(7), 7-6(22) victory in the Dallas semifinals a couple of months ago.
Opelka also owns a significant edge in current form. The 6’11” American is 16-6 this year following Houston wins over Mitchell Krueger, Gijs Brouwer, and Nick Kyrgios–dropping just one set to Krueger in the process. This is now the third consecutive event in which Isner has reached a final, but the first two were in doubles (he won both Indian Wells and Miami). The 36-year-old saved a match point in his Houston opener against Steve Johnson and also needed three sets to beat both Frances Tiafoe and Cristian Garin. Pretty much all the check marks in this matchup go to Opelka, but Isner can obviously be competitive if he serves at his normal level.
Pick: Opelka in 3
Marrakech: Alex Molcan vs. David Goffin
Goffin and Molcan will also be going head-to-head for the second time this season when they battle for the Grand Prix Hassan II title on Sunday. They squared off prior to the Australian Open, when Molcan scored a 7-5, 6-3 victory at an ATP 250 tournament in Melbourne.
Although Goffin continued to struggle on hard courts as he makes his comeback from injury, clay appears to be just what the doctor ordered. The 31-year-old Belgian has suddenly found his form with Marrakech wins over Damir Dzumhur, Pablo Andujar, Roberto Carballes Baena, and Federico Coria. Molcan has advanced by defeating Stefano Travaglia, Felix Auger-Aliassime (9-7 in the third-set tiebreaker), Botic Van de Zandschulp, and Laslo Djere. The 65th-ranked Slovak is 0-1 lifetime in ATP finals, while Goffin has been in 14 title matches and has won five. In an apparently even matchup, Goffin’s experience may be the difference.
Pick: Goffin in 3
Opelka in 3.
Molcan has been playing great all week taking out 3 seeds including #1, whereas Goffin has had a much easier draw, this should be cake for Molcan, Molcan in 2.
Big Dawg in 2; Goffin in 3.