National Bank Open: Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev, 6-foot-11 Reilly Opelka reach Toronto final
Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia beat John Isner of the United States 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday night in the National Bank Open semifinals.
Medvedev knocked off the 6-foot-10 Isner to set up a final against 6-11 American Reilly Opelka, a 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4), 6-4 winner over third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the afternoon.
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“I actually watched almost all of his matches,” Medvedev said about Opelka. “I think he’s playing great tennis here all week long. Today, the match he turned around with Stefanos was quite unbelievable, a very hard effort.”
The 25-year-old Medvedev, ranked second in the world, has 11 ATP Tour victories, winning this year in Mallorca and Marseille. The 36-year-old Isner won two weeks ago in Atlanta for his 16th career title.
“I was playing great today. I think I almost did no unforced errors,” Medvedev said. “I’m really happy with my game at this moment. I always like coming to the U.S. Open Series. I always feel like I’m playing better and better the more the series continues.”
Opelka saved the lone break point he faced, had 17 aces and won 77% of his first-serve points to finish off Tsitsipas in 2 hours, 32 minutes. Opelka ended the match with one last blast of a serve that Tsitsipas simply couldn’t corral.
“I really was clutch with not only my serve but my volleys in the big moments,” said Opelka, ranked 32nd in the world.
He has two tour victories, the last in 2020 at Delray Beach.
Tsitsipas has a tour-leading 45 victories this year, winning clay-court titles in Lyon and Monte Carlo.
“It was played on the details and he prevailed,” Tsitsipas said. “It just didn’t go my way when it had to. And it’s all right. I feel like there’s hope for next time.”
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