With his 6-3, 7-5 victory, the American advances to his third tour-level final of the season, all of which have taken place on American soil.
Follow Us
At the US Men’s Clay Court Championship on Saturday, Reilly Opelka beat Nick Kyrgios in two tight sets to reach his first clay-court final on the ATP Tour. With his 6-3, 7-5 victory, the American advances to his third tour-level final of the season, all of which have taken place on American soil. In 2022, he has three finals, second only to Rafael Nadal’s four.
“I’ve progressed every match,” Opelka said after the match. “Every warmup I’ve had has been long because I’ve been trying to get more feel and more comfort on this stuff. It’s not second nature like it is for Garin. He can take a year off and come here and feel right at home. Different story for me.”
Read More – ATP Houston 2022: John Isner bests Cristian Garin, sets up final against Reilly Opelka
In the match, the third seed hit 18 aces to Kyrgios’ 11 and won 86% (24/28) of his first-serve points. Opelka won the first set with a single break, and he took the second set with a break on the return to lead 4-3. Kyrgios, on the other hand, broke back right away on his only break chance of the match, setting up a tense finish.
In his final two service games, either side of his third break of the match at 5-5, the American did not drop another point on serve. After defeating defending champion Cristian Garin, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, Opelka will face John Isner, the 2013 Houston champion, in an all-American final.
Read More – Ash Barty news: THIS is the Aussie’s immediate plan after retiring from tennis
“Both of them have won here before, have had a lot of success here before,” Opelka said ahead of Isner’s semi-final tie. “That’s what you want in the final. For the tournament’s sake… you want it to be the best match you can get.”
“I think this draw here, with Garin, Fritz, Isner, Kyrgios, Tommy Paul, who’s great on clay, it’s a stacked tournament, a very stacked field. It comes down to playing high-level tennis because it’s a high-level draw,” he added.
