REILLY Opelka has showed off his endurance on a memorable day for the American at Delray Beach, winning both his semi-final and final on the last day of the tournament in front of impressed fans. Opelka overcame a rain delay from yesterday which resulted in his opponent – Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka booking a spot in the final with a 1-6 6-4 6-0 victory over sixth seed Frenchman, Ugo Humbert. By contrast, Opelka had to wait until the next day to face second seed Milos Raonic, defeating his fellow North American 4-6 7-6 6-3 in two hours and seven minutes.

From there, Opelka had to prepare for the final against Nishioka and the Japanese talent was not going to let him have it easy, forcing him to three sets before the big-serving American finally took out the match, and the title, 7-5 6-7 6-2. It was the second time Opelka had defeated Nishioka, winning against him a week ago in New York 6-4 6-4, but was sadly beaten trying to defend that title, going down in the quarter final. Prior to Delray Beach, Opelka had won just one match from four chances, also losing in the first round at Adelaide to Pablo Cuevas, and in the Australian Open to Fabio Fognini – after leading two sets to love before rain set in.

In the Delray Beach final, Opelka served up 27 aces to three, and won a whopping 87 per cent of his first serve points off a 71 per cent efficiency. He also broke four times to one, most of which came in the last set when he finally broke free of his much smaller opponent. Nishioka is a great counterpuncher, but he could not withstand the power of Opelka in the end, matching it with him and forcing a deciding set in the match, but the American was simply too strong when it came down to it.

The tournament has been a success for the Japanese number two, moving up to 48th in the world following his final appearance in Delray Beach. More relieving for Opelka is the fact he is back in the top 50 after his disastrous start to the season saw him tumble right down the world rankings. The American is now back at 45th in the world after his title win, which was only the second of his career after his 2019 New York Open triumph. Opelka now takes on Soonwoo Kwon down in Mexico as his next match, while Nishioka jumps on a plane setting his sights on Dubai where he has been drawn against Frenchman, Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the Round of 32.

FINAL:

[4] Reilly Opelka (USA) defeated Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 7-5 6-7 6-2