Reilly Opelka is on a compatriot-slaying run at the Delray Beach Open after ousting top seed and defending champion Jack Sock on Wednesday night. The 6’11” #NextGenATP American, who contested his first ATP World Tour event of the season, brought down his more fancied countryman 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Opelka, the World No. 228 in the ATP Rankings, thumped 17 aces to Sock’s four in the pair’s first meeting. He had already downed fellow American Ryan Harrison in the opening round and could have met another of his countrymen, No. 6 seed John Isner in the quarter-finals. Isner – a three-time Delray Beach Open semi-finalist – narrowly fell, though, to German Peter Gojowczyk 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 7-6(5). It is Gojowczyk’s third quarter-final...
Without Hyeon Chung's breakout in Milan last November, would the 21-year-old have made South Korean history and reached the Australian Open semi-finals? Before the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, Chung had made only one semi-final in his career (2017 Munich). Winning back-to-back-to-back-to-back matches was not something he did with ease. Then the Next Gen ATP Finals happened, and everything changed, says Neville Godwin, Chung's coach since December. In Milan, Chung blitzed through the draw, winning five consecutive matches for the first time in his career. Sure, the rules were different, but the pressure points were more abundant than ever – deciding deuce points, tie-breaks at three-all, and shorter sets that put an even higher premium on service breaks –...
On the surface, the serve is the ultimate weapon in our sport. It’s the hardest hit shot, and is the driving force behind the most common rally length in matches – a rally of just one shot. The serve went in, but the return didn’t come back in play. That rally length happens way more than anything else, right around 30 per cent of total points. It creates the greatest paradox in our sport – the practice court is overflowing with forehands and backhands, but the rally length that dominates the match court contains only a serve and a return. [ALSO LIKE] See Nadal's serving patterns in the Infosys Serve & Return Tracker An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis...
Kei Nishikori didn’t want to play the 2008 Delray Beach Open for fear of being outclassed, even embarrassed. At 18 years of age, he didn’t think he belonged at tour-level at all. Two weeks earlier, the Japanese teenager had lost in the third round of qualifying at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Dallas against KJ Hippensteel, who won a single tour-level match in his career. So how would Nishikori, World No. 244, make it through qualifying at an ATP World Tour event? “I told my coach I didn’t want to play in Delray because it’s a different level and [there’s] no way I’m going to win those tournaments,” Nishikori told ATPWorldTour.com. “But my coach pushed me to play.” It’s...
After saving four match points in his opening match on Monday, seventh seed Damir Dzumhur needed another stunning comeback to reach the Open 13 Provence quarter-finals on Wednesday. The 25-year-old found himself 0/5 down in a third-set tie-break, but reeled off seven consecutive points to overcome Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 7-6(5). Dzumhur had led the final set by a double break at 4-1, before the Italian grabbed the momentum to fight back and establish a substantial final-set tie-break lead. But, as he did on Monday, Dzumhur produced his best level under intense pressure to rally to victory. The World No. 29 will next face Tomas Berdych or Stefano Travaglia for a place in the semi-finals. France’s Lucas Pouille twice...
