Reilly Opelka showcased his powerful serve, firing 27 aces, to secure a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Mackenzie McDonald in the Newport ATP grass-court tournament. This victory propelled Opelka, playing on a wild card in his first tournament after a two-year hiatus, into the semifinals. Notably, Opelka’s remarkable run has made him the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the ATP era, having plummeted to 1,188th in the world while recovering from hip and wrist surgeries.
Opelka’s previous round victory over top seed and defending champion Adrian Mannarino was a significant upset, and he acknowledged the pressure his opponents face. “Let’s just call it like it is, these guys don’t want to lose to a guy that hasn’t played in two years,” Opelka said. “I’m playing with house money. It allows me to be a little bit more free and there’s extra nerves on the other side of the net.”
Despite his success, Opelka recognizes the need to work on his consistency before the US Open in August. “I was serving for it up 40-love and threw in two double faults. So that was a little bit out of character,” he said. “But that’s why I’m here. I’m here to try to shake off some of that rust — better I think to do it here and get it out of the way as opposed to maybe (at the) US Open.”
Meanwhile, third-seeded Alex Michelsen, 19, advanced to his second consecutive semifinal appearance with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic. Michelsen, the runner-up last year, withstood 12 aces from Kovacevic and saved the only break point he faced.
In a match that continued from Wednesday, second-seeded Marcos Giron rallied from a 0-3 deficit in the third set to defeat France’s Benoit Paire 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, reaching the quarterfinals. Paire had held a 6-4, 1-0 lead before darkness halted play the previous day. Giron, ranked 46th, capitalized on Paire’s errors, including nine double faults, to set up a quarterfinal clash with Australian qualifier Alex Bolt.
