Opelka Ousts Kyrgios, Will Face Isner In Giant Houston Final

by Staff | April 10th, 2022, 12:05 am
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Two of the biggest to ever swing the racquet will meet in an all-American final in Houston as Reilly Opelka will face John Isner.

Opelka ended the run of Nick Krygios 6-3, 7-5. It’s his third final of 2022 after a title in Dallas and a final in Delray. Overall, four of his five of his six career finals have come in the U.S. with the other in Canada!

“I’ve progressed every match,” Opelka said of his performance in his first clay event of the season. “I’ve felt more and more comfortable moving and sliding and all that.


“Every warmup I’ve had has been long because I’ve been trying to get more feel and more comfort on this stuff. It’s not second nature like it is for Garin. He can take a year off and come here and feel right at home. Different story for me.”

Opelka dropped just four points on first serve while registering 18 aces.

Isner has to come from a set down to deny Cristian Garin 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and give himself a shot at a second Houston title after 2013.

“It’s never easy when you have to come back form one set down,” Isner said. “My serve certainly helped me out a lot. I didn’t have to hit too many balls there at the end, and I didn’t want to.

“I’m so happy to be in the final again here. At my age now you never really know when you can get back to a final of a tournament like this.”

Isner was 0-6 this year after losing the first set, but battled from a set down in his opener to Steve Johnson and again today.

Opelka leads Isner 4-1 in what will be the tallest ATP final ever.

“Reilly’s a great player,” Isner previewed. “Of course our matches are inherently close. We both serve very well, so we play a lot of close matches. It’s going to be fun for me. He’s definitely a younger version of myself — a younger, much hairier version of myself,” he joked.

“We really are great friends,” he continued. “I think he looks up to me… and I try to mentor him as best I can. But I won’t be doing that tomorrow.”

The 36-year-old Isner will seek his 17th career title (second on clay) and he’s won six of his last seven final (the last eight now have come in the U.S.).

The two have played tiebreakers in their last 12 sets (!!!!). Opelka has won nine of those 12 and the last four matches they’ve played.


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