Wimbledon 2025: Reilly Opelka vs Alexander Shevchenko preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick

Match Details

Fixture: Reilly Opelka vs Alexander Shevchenko

Date: July 1, 2025

Tournament: Wimbledon

Round: First Round (Round of 128)

Venue: All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, England

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Grass

Prize Money: £53,550,000

Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel, ESPN | UK - BBC | Canada - TSN, RDS

Reilly Opelka vs Alexander Shevchenko preview

Reilly Opelka will begin his campaign at SW19 with a first-round matchup against Alexander Shevchenko.

Opelka has experienced a roller coaster 2025 grass court season, winning 60% of his matches so far. The American had an encouraging start to the campaign, reaching the semifinals at 's-Hertogenbosch, but hasn’t been able to maintain that momentum.

Opelka exited early in his next two tournaments. He first suffered a 5-7, 6-7(3) loss in the second round at Queen’s Club, followed by yet another 5-7, 3-6 defeat in the second round at Eastbourne to Jakub Mensik.

On the other side, Shevchenko has struggled to find his footing on grass. The Kazakh has virtually no experience on the surface, having played just five matches in his career. His sole win came in 2024, defeating Constant Lestienne 7-5, 7-6(5) in the first round at Mallorca.

This year, Alexander Shevchenko has played only one grass-court match, falling 4-6, 6-7(4) to Elias Ymer in the opening round of Mallorca qualifying.

Reilly Opelka vs Alexander Shevchenko head-to-head

Opelka leads the head-to-head 1-0. Their only matchup occurred in 2025 at Dallas with the hometown hero winning 7-6(3), 6-4.

Reilly Opelka vs Alexander Shevchenko odds

(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)

Reilly Opelka vs Alexander Shevchenko prediction

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The low and fast bounce of the grass surface has significantly improved Opelka’s powerful serve. Over 10 matches across three tournaments, he has averaged more than 11 aces per contest and won nearly 80% of points on the first serve.

In contrast, the much shorter Shevchenko has consistently struggled against big servers and lacks sufficient experience on grass to pull off an upset.

Competing in his first Wimbledon since 2022, Opelka is regarded as a dark horse capable of a deep run in the Grand Slam by many. Even though his form has been off and on lately, it’s hard to imagine him dropping a set in his opening-round match, let alone losing the bout.

Pick: Reilly Opelka to win in straight sets.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam