When second seed Reilly Opelka took on John Isner in the semifinals of Dallas Open on Saturday many expected there to be a tiebreaker played but their latest encounter exceeded expectations.
Prior to this week the American duo have faced each other four times on the Tour with 11 out of the 13 sets they have played going all the way to a tiebreak. A true testament to how much the players rely on their serves. Now their history of close encounters includes an ATP record for the longest ever tiebreak since records back in 1990.
After snatching the opening set in Dallas, Opelka edged out his nemesis in a gut-busting 46-point second set tiebreak. The 24-year-old saved 10 set points before converting his eighth match point to prevail 7-6(7), 7-6 (22).
“It was bizarre. It’s just next point, kind of back to the guessing game. I’ve got to take care of what I do and hopefully guess right. And I did. I guessed wrong a lot, obviously,” Opelka told ATPtour.com. “He was in more points than I was. I really hit some big shots, I stayed tough, I also served extremely well. I was very clutch.”
Throughout the 123-minute match both players won nearly 90% of their first service points with Opelka recording 89% against Isner’s 87%. They also produced a total of 60 aces between them with no break points occurring.
“It just shows how clutch he is,” said Opelka. “If it was going to happen, it would have been in this match.”
The previous record for the longest tiebreak played was 38 points which was achieved on seven different occasions. Among the players who jointly held that record was Andy Murray (Dubai 2017), Andy Roddick (2007 Australian Open), Roger Federer (2004 Masters Cup) and Goran Ivanisevic twice (1997 Queen’s, 1993 US Open).
Opelka is through to his fourth Tour final where he will play another American in the shape of rising star Jenson Brooksby who climbed the rankings by a staggering 250 places last year. 21-year-old Brooksby ousted Marcos Giron 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), in his semi-final match.
“I thought I competed really well,” said Brooksby who missed the Australian Open due to a positive CO0VID-19 test. “But I just needed to be more positive with myself, which is something I’m working on.”
Opelka lost to Brooksby last October in Antwerp, which was their only previous meeting on the Tour.
