Norrie Takes Down Opelka In Delray Beach

Cameron Norrie kept his cool when he needed to the most against American big man Reilly Opelka. The lefty stayed mentally tough to win two tiebreakers and capture the Delray Beach title over Opelka 7-6(1), 7-6(4).

“I thought I played a very clean match,” said Norrie. “I didn’t face a break point so that was great. I was happy with the way I played and obviously with the result.

“The tiebreaks I played extremely aggressively, the second one especially, I managed to put a couple of balls away and I was reading the play great. Super happy to get the win and beat a guy like Reilly, who is confident and playing well and won last week.”

Opelka, who’s taking over John Isner’s role as the king of North American 250s, has just won the Dallas event last week, couldn’t get the range on the return to make a dent.

“Gaining more experience, more knowledge, getting stronger and fitter,” Opelka said after the loss. “It’s hard to pick one thing, there are so many little details that make a big difference. I think it’s just overall growth.”

Norrie now heads to Acapulco. Opelka withdrew from the event.