TennisNH

Opelka Strikes Late, Downs Medvedev In St. Petersburg

15-Oct-2020 16:39:00 | ATP World Tour

After dropping serve twice in the first set, Reilly Opelka produced a clinical comeback performance to eliminate defending champion Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 at the St. Petersburg Open.

The 6’11” American saved four break points in the deciding set, before ripping a crosscourt forehand winner on his first break opportunity to complete the biggest win of his career. Opelka claimed breaks in the final games of the second and third sets to complete a one-hour, 55-minute victory and improve his record to 6-6 against Top 10 opponents.

“It is always a tough match, playing one of the best players in the world in general, but especially at [his] home. [It is] a great win for me,” said Opelka in an on-court interview.

The Delray Beach champion entered the tournament on a three-match losing streak, but has raised his game in crucial moments on the indoor hard courts to reach his fourth quarter-final of the year. In the first round, the 23-year-old survived a second-set tie-break before completing a three-set victory against Nino Serdarusic.

All of Opelka and Medvedev’s ATP Head2Head meetings have been contested in the United States or Russia. On each occasion, the home player has been defeated. Opelka lost both his previous matches against the World No. 6 in final-set tie-breaks at the 2017 Citi Open in Washington, D.C. and the 2019 Miami Open presented by Itau.

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“It was ugly for the first set-and-a-half. I felt like I barely won any points on his serve, but part of that is just because of my opponent… Daniil is an absolute nightmare to play, especially for a guy like me because he just runs every ball down,” said Opelka.

The World No. 36 will next face last year’s runner-up Borna Coric in the quarter-finals. Coric booked his place in the last eight with a 6-3, 7-5 win against Russian wild card Roman Safiullin 6-3, 7-5. Opelka battled from a set down to beat Coric in their only previous ATP Head2Head encounter at last year’s Western & Southern Open.