Spoiler:
Reilly Opelka advanced to his second ATP Tour semi-final on clay on Friday at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship, building on his first Houston victory to book a marquee matchup against Nick Kyrgios, who advanced via walkover.
The American was a 6-3, 7-5 winner over Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer, making it four sets in a row for the World No. 18 after he dropped the opening stanza of his campaign against countryman Mitchell Krueger. Opelka entered the ATP 250 event with an 0-4 main-draw record in Houston, with his last appearance in 2019. With the benefit of a first-round bye, he's started his clay-court swing strongly on home soil.
"The bye weeks are nice, they really are, to come in a little later, have more time to prepare on the court," he said. You get to take your time and that's huge."
Despite facing windy conditions and entering the match without a scouting report on his World No. 361 opponent, Opelka was able to power through the opening set behind an early break. But he had to battle back from 1-3 down in the second to match his semi-final effort on the clay of the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome last May.
The American was a 6-3, 7-5 winner over Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer, making it four sets in a row for the World No. 18 after he dropped the opening stanza of his campaign against countryman Mitchell Krueger. Opelka entered the ATP 250 event with an 0-4 main-draw record in Houston, with his last appearance in 2019. With the benefit of a first-round bye, he's started his clay-court swing strongly on home soil.
"The bye weeks are nice, they really are, to come in a little later, have more time to prepare on the court," he said. You get to take your time and that's huge."
Despite facing windy conditions and entering the match without a scouting report on his World No. 361 opponent, Opelka was able to power through the opening set behind an early break. But he had to battle back from 1-3 down in the second to match his semi-final effort on the clay of the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome last May.