Alcaraz vs. Munar, Opelka vs. Rinderknech

It’s a battle of the Spaniards as Carlos Alcaraz takes on Jaume Munar in the Queen’s Club second round on Thursday. Big server Reilly Opelka faces Arthur Rinderknech for a spot in the quarterfinals.

(1) Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jaume Munar

Two-time defending French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz heads into the brief grass season as a co-favorite for the Wimbledon title with Jannik Sinner. Queen’s Club will be the lone tune-up event for Alcaraz. The world No. 2 is also the reigning Wimbledon champion, having defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the final last summer. Despite his demonstrated abilities on grass as the two-time Wimbledon winner, there is a very real risk of a post-slam “hangover.” Last year after winning the French and and coming to London as the reigning Wimbledon champion, he lost in the second round at Queen’s Club.

Jaume Munar has actually posted a win over Alcaraz. Sure it came back in 2021 and Alcaraz has beaten the world No. 59 twice since, but it still shows he is capable. Munar’s first-round opponent retired from their match after losing the first set. The problem is that he has historically been terrible on grass. Including his “win” over Jordan Thompson, he is 4-11 lifetime on the lawn.

Cheryl pick: Alcaraz in 2

Ricky pick: Alcaraz in 2

(PR) Reilly Opelka vs (LL) Arthur Rinderknech

The official head-to-head has France’s Arthur Rinderknech with a 1-0 record over Reilly Opelka. But the two players met at this year’s Phoenix Challenger, which is a hard-court event frequented by players who are knocked out early from Indian Wells. Opelka won in three tough sets. The American has a game naturally suited for grass. In fact, he just made the semifinals in s’Hertogenbosch last week–where he lost a surprisingly one-sided match to Zizou Bergs.

Opelka and his monster serving doesn’t lend itself to long, grinding points, so he may still be somewhat fresh even after all his matches last week. Opponent Arthur Rinderknech was a dismal 5-15 on the year coming into this event. He won a match in Stuttgart last week over Denis Shapovalov, but match wins have been hard to come by for the world No. 80. Opelka should have enough left in the tank for this one.

Cheryl pick: Opelka in 3

Ricky pick: Opelka in 2