Opelka Falls to Canadian Star Shapovalov in Australian Open 3rd Round

Palm Coast’s Reilly Opelka battled for three hours early Friday morning but ultimately fell to Denis Shapovalov in the third round of the Australian Open in Melborne.

The No. 23 seed Opelka and the Canadian Shapovalov, seeded 14th, both looking to make the Round of 16 there for the first time in their careers, split the first two sets before the younger Shapovalov pulled away. He broke Opelka’s serve once each in the last two sets to snatch a 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 triumph.




It was a strong effort for the 24-year-old Opelka in Melbourne, reaching the third round for the first time, but just ran into an opponent who was a little bit better on this day. His good week may move him back into the Top 20 of the ATP rankings coming out of the tournament, pending other players’ results.

Opelka was only able to make 61 percent of his first serves Friday morning, below his usual average in the 70s, and was even in the winners/errors ratio, hitting 46 of both. Shapovalov made 39 winners to 33 errors.

The kid who grew up in Palm Coast and whses name adorns the local Tennis Center was looking to make his first-ever Round of 16 appearance in Australia, and facing a fellow young star in Shapovalov. The 22-year-old flashy Canadian was born in Tel Aviv and reached the Wimbledon semifinals last year, and is one of the most entertaining shotmakers in the sport.

He also has a habit of playing very-long, five-set matches in Slams, with his second-round win over Seewoo Kwon being his 13th already in his time on the ATP Tour.




Given that, you would have expected Shapovalov to be a bit fatigued Thursday night against the fresher Opelka, but at the start Thursday night both players looked strong. Each held serve to start the match to 3-all, when Opelka appeared to be bothered by being called for a time violation while serving. A nearly 10-minute game ensued, and Shapovalov finally ripped a backhand winner on break point to seize the advantage.

But Opelka broke right back to get level at 4-all, and the two went on to a first-set tiebreak. It was Shapovalov who served big in the breaker to take it, 7-4, and grab a one-set lead.

Opelka bounced back in the second set, breaking serve while up 4-3 to gain the edge, then holding serve twice more to square the match.

But the lefty Shapovalov regained the advantage by breaking Opelka at 3-2 in the third set, smashing a forehand winner on break point, then served it out from there.

In the final set it was the same, sixth game of the set that proved the difference, with Shapovalov breaking Opelka to go up 4-2, and from there the blonde Canadian finished the match off.

Shapovalov now faces No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev in the fourth round.