Reilly Opelka saved the only break point he faced in his 7-6 (7-3)7-6 (7-3) win over US rising star Jenson Brooksby to clinch his third ATP Tour title at the Dallas Open.
Opelka faced just one break point in the tournament.
Brooksby earned a break point in the third game of the first set, but Opelka hit a backhand down the line winner to hold his serve. Opelka did not face a break point in the rest of the match.
Brooksby fended off three set points in the first set tie-break, but Opelka sealed the tie-break 7-3, as Brooksby sent a crosscourt backhand wide after 52 minutes.
Brooksby saved four break points with three sevice winners and a forehand winner to hold serve in the 11th game for 6-5. Opelka raced out to a 6-3 lead and converted his first match point with a backhand volley winner.
Opelka added the Dallas Open title to the trophies in New York in 2019 and Delray Beach in 2020.
“It’s always nice to lift a trophy. It does not happen so often, at least for me, so I am going to enjoy it. I thought I played really well under pressure, especially against a great player like Jenson. He makes you very uncomfortable and he took me out of my comfort zone a lot of the match today. I really had to play tennis to get by and I barely did. I am a big fan of him, a big believer in him. He is super young and he has got a lot of tennis ahead of him still. The scary thing is that he has a lot to improve on and I think that’s why he is a future top 10 player and he is going to be winning many titles for many years to come”, said Opelka.
Brooksby was chasing his first ATP Tour title after reaching the final in Newport last year. The young US player battled past Marcos Giron in the semifinal after 2 hours and 54 minutes. He won three Challenger titles last year. Last year he became the youngest US player to reach the fourth round since Andy Roddick in 2002 before losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets. Brooksby, who is ranked world number 54, is aiming to break into the top 50 for the first time.
“It was a tight match. Couple of breakers, I think that one could have gone either way as well. I thought I competed better and it’s definitely a really good week to build off of going into the future”, said Brooksby.
