Persistent pressure was the key for Reilly Opelka at the National Bank Open in Toronto on Saturday.
The unseeded American outlasted No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece through a marathon two-hour, 32-minute match to collect a spot in the final.
Opelka saved the lone break point he faced, hit 17 aces and won 77 per cent of his first serve points in the 6(2)-7, 7-6(4), 6-4 win.
"I really was clutch with not only my serve but my volleys in the big moments," he told reporters after the match.
Opelka forced the 23-year-old Tsitsipas into a double break point early, but the world No. 3 sent a cross-court shot well out of his opponent's reach to take a 2-1 lead.
Midway through the 54-minute-long set, the American hit a no-look, backwards shot between his legs from well below the baseline, only to see Tsitsipas return it across the court, just out of his reach.
"That was my only option from there," Opelka said with a grin. "It's kind of somewhat a highlight but tweeners are so common now, I always say they're so mainstream, they're not even cool anymore because everyone hits them."
The tiebreak saw the Greek go up 2-1 when Opelka, ranked 32nd in the world, came up to the net and sent a shot well out of bounds. The momentum seemed to swing, then, with Tsitsipas ultimately taking the tiebreak on an ace.
It was more of the same in the second set.
Opelka's serve reached speeds of up to 227 kilometres per hour, but Tsitsipas continued to adapt and respond.
Opelka drew first blood in the second tiebreak with a nifty drop shot but Tsitsipas was quick to reply. The pair traded points until Opelka took a mini break with a well-angled forehand that his opponent sent high and wide.
The American went up 6-4 when Tsitsipas double faulted. Tsitsipas repeatedly threw his racket in frustration as Opelka finally took the tiebreak. He received a warning for racket abuse.
There were no signs of frustration, though, coming into the third set. Again, the duo each held fast to their serve and attempted to force their opponent into a misstep.
Tsitsipas got his first chance at a break point midway through the third set. Opelka responded with a massive serve that broke a string and forced him to switch rackets. The new tool provided him no trouble, as he got the point back with a quick drop shot and eventually took the game to knot the set at 3-3.
A pair of double faults saw Tsitsipas face a break point in the next game. He sailed a return high and wide, giving Opelka the first break of the match.
The Greek then took a ball out of his pocket and smashed it into the stands in frustration, and was handed a point penalty in response.
"I think he felt that I was serving well, I was earning points in a lot of different ways on my serve," Opelka said. "Maybe it was just a fluke game, but I like to think it was pressure that I put on him with holding so easily the whole match."
Opelka sealed the victory with one last blast of a serve that Tsitsipas simply couldn't corral.
"It was played on the details and he prevailed," Tsitsipas said of the loss. "It just didn't go my way when it had to. And it's alright. I feel like there's hope for next time."
Opelka will face either Russian No. 1-seed Daniil Medvedev or John Isner of the U.S. in Sunday's final. The pair were set to face off in the second men's semifinal later on Saturday.
At the women's tournament in Montreal, Karolina Pliskova calmly clinched her spot in the final with a 6-3, 6-4 win over the top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
She celebrated her first-set win with a muted fist pump, and when her opponent Sabalenka broke her in the second set, the No. 4 seed from the Czech Republic didn't show any signs of being flustered.
"I'm quite calm. Of course I have some nerves and emotions but I try not to show it that much," the 29-year-old said.
"There is a lot of things happening on the court but I think the main thing is just to have a goal and follow that goal."
Sabalenka struggled with consistency throughout the match, registering five double faults and saving just 4-of-7 break points. She threw her racket to the ground in frustration early in the second set.
Meanwhile, Pliskova remained collected, and used her strong serve to keep her out of trouble. In the second set, the world No. 6 saved a break point with an ace, then preserved the hold with two other serves that Sabalenka simply couldn't control.
"I think I was super solid today," she said. "Just did everything I was supposed to do to win this match."
Pliskova took a three-set victory over Donna Vekic of Croatia in the second round, then dispatched American Amanda Anisimova and Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo to clinch her spot in the semis.
Last month, Sabalenka and Pliskova met in the semifinal at Wimbledon, with Pliskova taking a three-set victory. She then lost in the finals to Australia's Ashleigh Barty.
Pliskova will face Italy's Camila Giorgi on Sunday.
Giorgi, ranked 71st in the world, downed American qualifier Jessica Pegula 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the second semifinal on Saturday, hitting four aces and saving 7-of-10 break points en route to the victory.
Pliskova and Giorgi previously met at the Tokyo Olympics where Giorgi took a straight-sets win in the round of 16.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2021.
