ATP roundup: Reilly Opelka beats John Isner in historic tiebreaker

Oct 11, 2021; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Reilly Opelka (USA) hits a shot against Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) during his third round match in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Oct 11, 2021; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Reilly Opelka (USA) hits a shot against Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) during his third round match in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Second-seeded Reilly Opelka won the longest tiebreaker in the history of the ATP Tour to cap a two-set victory Saturday night over No. 3 seed John Isner in the semifinals of the Dallas Open.

Opelka posted a 24-22 tiebreaker victory in the second set to secure his fourth straight triumph over Isner — 7-6 (7), 7-6 (22). The two combined for 60 aces, with Opelka getting 39, in a match that lasted two hours, three minutes.

In Sunday’s final, Opelka will play the winner of Saturday night’s second semifinal between fourth-seeded Jenson Brooksby and No. 7 Marcos Giron.

ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime will make his ninth attempt to win his first ATP tour title when he meets No. 1 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the final in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Auger-Aliassime, the third seed, rallied to eliminate defending champion Andrey Rublev 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2. It was his first career win over the Russian, who was the second seed. Auger-Aliassime hit 41 winners, including 11 aces, in the 2-hour, 21-minute match.

Tsitsipas also dropped the first set before rebounding to defeat Czech qualifier Jiri Lehecka 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. When he meets Auger-Aliassime in the final on Sunday, it will be the eighth contest between the two, with Tsitsipas up 5-2.

Argentina Open

Home-crowd favorite Diego Schwartzman won two matches to move to the final in Buenos Aires.

He completed his quarterfinal match that was delayed Friday night by rain, defeating countryman Francisco Cerundolo 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. Then, the No. 2 seed needed nearly three hours to dispatch Italian Lorenzo Sonego, the third seed, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.

In the final of the clay-court tournament, Schwartzman will face top seed Casper Ruud of Norway, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over another Argentine, Federico Delbonis. In head-to-head matches, Schwartzman leads 5-2.

–Field Level Media

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