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 –...
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...
Juan Martin del Potro has undoubtedly been one of the hottest players on the ATP World Tour, breaking back into the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings in January for the first time since 4 August 2014. So it was no surprise to see Del Potro cruise to a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy at the Delray Beach Open on Tuesday evening. It could be the beginning of another big run in Florida for the 29-year-old, who has advanced to at least the semi-finals in each of his three previous appearances in Delray Beach. Del Potro claimed the title on his debut in 2011 (d. Tipsarevic). The World No. 10, who has now triumphed in the opening round...
