Rising star Reilly Opelka has won the biggest title of his career to date after defeating Canadian qualifier Brayden Schnur 6-1, 6-7(7), 7-6, in the final of the New York Open on Sunday.
The 21-year-old fired an impressive 43 aces past Schnur during what was a clash of the underdogs. Prior to the tournament, neither player had contested the final of an ATP Tour event. Opelka’s serve was fundamental to his victory as the American didn’t face a single break point in the match. In total, he won 81% of his service points. During the closing stages of the match, a successful hawk-eye challenge reversed the decision to award Schnur a match point in the decisive tiebreaker.
“I put myself in a good position throughout the whole match and third-set breaker could have went either way,” Opelka said. “That challenge honestly is probably the difference.”
Opelka, who also defeated top seed John Isner in the semi-finals, prevailed on his sixth match point opportunity. Twice he had a chance to secure victory in straight sets, but was denied the opportunity by his resilient opponent. Eventually, it was an ace out wide that secured him the trophy.
“This [title] is definitely what I’m most proud of,” he reflected. “I was tough mentally, especially losing a lot of first sets this week, and my first serve really helped me out. I was able to play clutch in those big moments.“
Opelka first rose to prominence as a junior after winning the Wimbledon boys title in 2015. Since then, he has made steady progress on the professional tour by winning a quartet of Challenger titles. Three of which were last year. Last month the 6”11’ American player defeated Isner at the Australian Open in what was the tallest match in grand slam history.
Runner-up Schnur can also draw positives during what has also been a breakthrough week for him. The Canadian had never won a main draw match on the ATP Tour coming into New York and was yet to break the world’s top 150. After coming through the qualifying draw, he scored wins over Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey on route to the final.
“I struggled with (confidence) a bit early in my career, but I believe I belong with the top guys, these types of tournaments, playing every week,” said Schnur. “I’ll take the confidence from this and move forward.”
As a consequence of both players’ performances, they have risen to a ranking high. Opelka is now currently ranked 56th and Opelka 107th.
