Reilly Opelka notched his sixth victory of the season at the home ATP 500 event in Dallas. The former world no. 17 faced Alexander Shevchenko in the first round, earninga 7-6, 6-4 triumph in an hour and 16 minutes.
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The American fired 18 aces and faced no break points. He outplayed Shevchenko behind the second serve and grabbed pivotal points en route to a solid win. The Kazakh played against one break point in the second set. He got broke and sealed his fate against such a strong server.
They hit the same number of service winners and stayed neck and neck from the baseline. Opelkatamed his strokes superbly and fired 40 winners and 19 unforced errors. He dominated with his forehand and sealed the deal in straight sets.
The home player secured the first game of the duel with a volley winner and landed a forehand winner two games later for a hold at love. Alexander followed the rival's pace and closed the eighth game at 30 to lock the result at 4-4 and increase the drama.
Opelka closed the ninth game after a deuce, and they provided three comfortable holds to introduce a tie break. Reilly grabbed two early mini-breaks, cracking a backhand return winner and moving 3-0 in front. The American fired two winners on serve for a 5-0 advantage.
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He fired a booming serve at 5-3 for set points and grabbed the third mini-break on the first, wrapping up the first part of the duel in 45 minutes. Reilly delivered five commanding holds in the second set and kept the pressure on the other side.
Opelka generated his only break point in the third game and drew the rival's mistake to open a set and a break advantage. The American landed an ace in the fourth game to confirm the break and repeated that two games later for a 4-2 lead.
The Kazakh closed the seventh game at love and remained in touch. However, Reilly landed another ace in the eighth game and forged a 5-3 lead. The American sealed the deal with an unreturned serve, moving over the top in style and making a winning start.
