Reilly Opelka edged Nick Kyrgios in two tight sets to reach his first clay-court final on the ATP Tour Saturday at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.

The American’s 6-3, 7-5 win puts him through to his third tour-level final of the season, with all three coming on American soil. His three finals in 2022 is second only to Nadal’s four.

“I’ve progressed every match,” Opelka said of his performance in his first clay event of the season. “I’ve felt more and more comfortable moving and sliding and all that.

“Every warmup I’ve had has been long because I’ve been trying to get more feel and more comfort on this stuff. It’s not second nature like it is for Garin. He can take a year off and come here and feel right at home. Different story for me.”

Name a human who can return a serve with that much kick.

We’ll wait.@ReillyOpelka #USClay pic.twitter.com/HCKNEH4ZES

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 9, 2022

The third seed hit 18 aces in the match to Kyrgios’ 11, and won 86 per cent (24/28) of his first-serve points.

One break was enough for Opelka to take the opening set, and he again drew first blood on the return in the second to lead 4-3. But Kyrgios broke back immediately on his only break chance of the match to set up a tense finale.

The American did not drop another point on serve in his final two service games, either side of his third break of the match at 5-5. He now awaits the winner of Saturday’s second semi-final between fourth seed John Isner and defending champion Cristian Garin, the fifth seed. 

“Both of them have won here before, have had a lot of success here before,” said Opelka, previewing the final. His countryman Isner won the Houston title in 2013.

“That’s what you want in the final. For the tournament’s sake… you want it to be the best match you can get,” he continued.

“I think this draw here, with Garin, Fritz, Isner, Kyrgios, Tommy Paul, who’s great on clay, it’s a stacked tournament, a very stacked field. It comes down to playing high-level tennis because it’s a high-level draw.”

All of the action from Houston can be seen on ESPN3 in the U.S., with Sunday’s final set to begin at 2 p.m. local time.

The ATP Tour’s European clay-court swing will open in style with the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the season’s third ATP Masters 1000 event and its first on clay.

Two-time champion Novak Djokovic, back at World No. 1, will lead the field in his first competitive action since Dubai in February. Defending champ Stefanos Tsitsipas is seeking his first title of 2022, while Miami champ Carlos Alcaraz looks to build on the biggest title of his young career.

ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch this week.

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1) Djokovic Returns For Second ATP Tour Event of 2022: After a Dubai quarter-final loss saw him cede the top spot in the ATP Rankings, Djokovic enters Monte-Carlo back at World No. 1. But his status as top seed did not hand him an easy draw: He could face Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, and could see 14th seed Roberto Bautista Agut or Daniel Evans in the third round, with the Brit ending his 2021 Monte-Carlo run in the last 16 one year ago.

On Monday, Djokovic will begin his 365th week atop the ATP Rankings, extending his own record. The 34-year-old lifted the Monte-Carlo title in 2013 and 2015, and holds a 35-12 record at the Monaco event. 

2) Tsitsipas Seeded Third For Title Defense: Tsitsipas’ 2021 Monte-Carlo title began a purple patch for the Greek on the red clay. After claiming the trophy without dropping a set, he reached the Barcelona final, won the title in Lyon and reached his first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros. 

All seven of Tsitsipas’ tour-level titles have come in Europe, as did his best ATP Tour result of the 2022 season to date — a final run in Rotterdam. He enters Monte-Carlo after posting a 3-2 record in Indian Wells and Miami, his fourth-round loss to Alcaraz in South Florida standing out as one of the matches of the young season. The Greek will open against a qualifier in Monaco.

3) Alcaraz Back On The Clay: The 18-year-old Spaniard grew up on clay courts, but after he blitzed to a 10-1 record in reaching the Indian Wells semi-finals and winning his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Miami, many wondered if hard courts might suit his game best.

“All I can say is I’ve got two titles on clay and one on hard court,” Alcaraz said. “I feel very comfortable in both surfaces, so I don’t mind playing on clay or on hard court.”

His two clay titles came in Umag last July and Rio de Janeiro in February, and he carries a career-high ATP Ranking of World No. 11 into Monte-Carlo. Seeded eighth in Monaco, he could face a third-round showdown with Indian Wells champ Taylor Fritz ahead of a potential quarter-final against Djokovic.

4) Zverev Seeks Monte-Carlo Breakthrough: Alexander Zverev is a five-time ATP Masters 1000 champion, including three titles on European red clay. The German World No. 3’s best Monte-Carlo result came in 2018, when he reached the semi-finals. He holds an 8-5 record at the event, but is 2-2 in his last two appearances, bowing out in the last 16 each time.

Zverev’s best result of 2022 came when he reached the Montpellier final, where he lost to first-time ATP Tour champ Alexander Bublik. He enters the European clay swing off of a quarter-final showing in Miami. 

5) Ruud To Back Up Surprise Miami Final: Casper Ruud surprised himself by reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 title on the Miami hard courts. Now back on his favoured clay, the fourth seed will look to improve upon his Monte-Carlo semi-final run one year ago. He also reached the Madrid semis in 2021.

Six of Ruud’s seven ATP Tour titles have come on clay, though he is still seeking his first Masters 1000 trophy. After a first-round bye, the Norwegian could face Aslan Karatsev in the second round.

6) Top 10 Seeds Can Add To Trophy Count: In addition to Alcaraz, four other Top 10 seeds enter Monte-Carlo with at least one 2022 ATP Tour title to their name: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Andrey Rublev, Cameron Norrie and Taylor Fritz.

Both Alcaraz and Rublev have two titles on the season. They join three-time titlist Rafael Nadal as the only multiple-trophy winners on the year in singles, with the Spaniard set to miss out on Monte-Carlo with a rib stress fracture.

7) Wild Cards Wawrinka, Tsonga Add Intrigue: Former Top 5 players Stan Wawrinka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, born 20 days apart, are both ranked outside the Top 200 entering Monte-Carlo. Wawrinka, 37, is making his first ATP Tour appearance in over a year, since Doha last March, following two left-foot surgeries in 2021.

The Swiss, who is also playing doubles with Auger-Aliassime, faces Bublik in the opening round. France’s Tsonga, 36, recently announced that he will retire at Roland Garros next month. The Frenchman will open against Marin Cilic.

8) #NextGenATP Stars In Action: In addition to Alcaraz, Italians Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti will lead the way for the younger generation in Monte-Carlo. 

Ninth seed Sinner faces Borna Coric in the opening round, while Musetti takes on Benoit Paire. Sinner, 20, is making his second Monte-Carlo appearance after a second-round showing in his 2021 debut. Musetti, also 20, is seeking his first win in Monaco after a first-round exit in his debut last season.

9) Fognini Defending ATP Ranking Points: While Fabio Fognini is no longer the defending champion in Monte-Carlo, he is defending 500 ATP Ranking points from his 2019 title run — 50 per cent of the initial 1,000 points he earned as champion. Those 500 points represent 37 per cent of the World No. 32 Italian’s ranking points.

10) Ram/Salisbury Lead Doubles Draw: Joe Salisbury rose to the top of the ATP Rankings for the first time following his run to the Indian Wells quarter-finals with longtime partner Rajeev Ram. The pairing has been rewarded with the top seed in Monte-Carlo as it seeks a first ATP Tour title of 2022. Croatia’s Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic follow as the second seeds, after Pavic lost his World No. 1 ranking to the Briton.

A number of singles stars are also in the Monte-Carlo draw. In addition to the Auger-Aliassime/Wawrinka partnership, the likes of Zverev, Tsitsipas, Rublev and Fritz also feature, as well as the high-powered pairing of Hubert Hurkacz and Sinner.

The last time David Goffin reached an ATP Tour semi-final, he went on to win the Montpellier title last February. He’s on track to repeat that feat at the Grand Prix Hassan II following a straightforward victory on Saturday in Marrakech.

The 31-year-old Belgian defeated Federico Coria, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the title match in his first clay tournament of the 2022 season. After a pair of gruelling three-set victories over Spaniards Pablo Andujar and Roberto Carballes Baena, Goffin was pleased to be off the court in one hour and 23 minutes, especially after dropping the first two games of the match.

“It was a short match, so it’s good because the last two matches were more than two hours and 30 minutes,” he said. “It was not easy. At the beginning I was a little bit nervous. The energy was a little bit down so I had to push myself to play better, to come back, to break back.

“After that, I started to feel more relaxed and my quality of ball was better, and then I started to play really well at the end of the first set.”

Both men saved a break point in consecutive games early in the second, with Goffin making the breakthrough in the eighth game of the stanza before serving it out. After losing his opening service game, Goffin held firm on serve for the rest of the match, saving all four break points he faced from that point.

“I managed to deal with my emotions at the end to finish the match so I’m happy to play another final, especially here, the first tournament on clay,” said the Belgian. “I will give everything tomorrow.”

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He’ll next face Slovakian Alex Molcan, who will be competing in his second ATP Tour final after a 6-1, 7-5 result over eighth seed Laslo Djere. It will be the pair’s second ATP Head2Head meeting, after Molcan’s victory at the Melbourne ATP 250 in January.  

“He’s a great fighter, he’s moving so well,” Goffin said of his final opponent. “He’s lefty so he’s using his lefty game really well on clay, especially two days ago against Felix, he played well. So it’s a tough opponent.”

Molcan defeated top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in a third-set tie-break in the second round, then upset sixth seed Botic van de Zandschulp in a three-set quarter-final.

In the semis, after dominating the opening set against Djere, Molcan again secured an early break in the second before the Serbian levelled at 4-4. But the 24-year-old reclaimed the advantage by claiming his fourth break of the match to avoid a tie-break. 

“It was a tough match,” Molcan assessed. “Lajovic is a tough player so I knew it was going to be tough. From the beginning I had a break up, so I felt pretty good on the court… It was really tough in the end but I’m really glad that I won.”

Day one of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters will see former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov, 2019 finalist Dusan Lajovic and 15th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili take to court in first-round singles action at the third ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw

G. Dimitrov (BUL) vs [15] N. Basilashvili (GEO)

Former semi-finalist Dimitrov will kick off his campaign Sunday when he faces 15th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili on Court Rainier III in Monte-Carlo. Dimitrov has a strong record on the clay in Monaco, having reached the last four in 2018 and advanced to the quarter-finals in 2013 and 2015.

The Bulgarian, who is making his ninth appearance in Monte-Carlo, has earned wins against 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka, former World No. 7 Fernando Verdasco and World No. 6 Matteo Berrettini at the tournament over the years and arrives this week in confident mood, after advancing to the quarter-finals in Indian Wells last month.

Dimitrov leads Basilashvili 1-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, but that meeting came back in 2017 on hard in Sofia. Georgian Basilashvili has never been beyond the first round in three previous appearances in Monte-Carlo.

D. Lajovic (SRB) vs F. Krajinovic (SRB)

Dusan Lajovic will take on Filip Krajinovic in an all-Serbian battle, with the latter leading their ATP Head2Head series 2-1. Krajinovic, who advanced to the third round in Monaco in 2021, downed Lajovic in three sets in the first round in Indian Wells in March.

Lajovic will provide stiff competition in Monte-Carlo, though, having soared to his only Masters 1000 final at the tournament in 2019. The World No. 48 upset seeds Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev before falling to Italian Fabio Fognini in the championship match.

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A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP) vs M. Giron (USA)

Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and American Marcos Giron will kick off the main-draw action on Court Rainier III in what will be the first ATP Head2Head meeting between the pair.

Davidovich Fokina defeated Alex de Minaur, Berrettini and Lucas Pouille en route to the quarter-finals last season and will be aiming to snap a three-match losing streak against Giron. Meanwhile, the American is making his Monte-Carlo debut.

M. Fucsovics (HUN) vs L. Harris (RSA)

Hungarian Marton Fucsovics and South African Lloyd Harris will round off the main-draw singles action when they compete on Court des Princes. The pair are tied at 2-2 in their ATP Head2Head series, with Fucsovics winning their most recent meeting in Doha in February. The World No. 57 will be competing for the fourth time on the clay in Monte-Carlo, while Harris is making his debut.

Other Action

#NextGenATP Czech Jiri Lehecka will be aiming to reach the main draw at a Masters 1000 event for the first time when he takes on Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in the final qualifying round, while singles stars Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner will begin their doubles campaign against Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev.

SCHEDULE – SUNDAY, 10 APRIL 2022

COURT RAINIER III start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [WC] F. Cobolli (ITA) vs [11] E. Ruusuvuori (FIN)

Not Before 1:00 pm
A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP) vs M. Giron (USA)
G. Dimitrov (BUL) vs [15] N. Basilashvili (GEO)
D. Lajovic (SRB) vs F. Krajinovic (SRB)

COURT DES PRINCES start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [1] B. Bonzi (FRA) vs J. Lehecka (CZE)
Qualifying – H. Dellien (BOL) vs [Alt] T. Daniel (JPN)
M. Fucsovics (HUN) vs L. Harris (RSA)
[WC] M. Melo (BRA) / A. Zverev (GER) vs H. Hurkacz (POL) / J. Sinner (ITA)

COURT 2 start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [7] O. Otte (GER) vs [10] J. Munar (ESP)
Qualifying – [4] S. Baez (ARG) vs [9] K. Majchrzak (POL)
T. Brkic (BIH) / N. Cacic (SRB) vs [PR] F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN) / S. Wawrinka (SUI)
K. Khachanov / A. Rublev vs [5] T. Puetz (GER) / M. Venus (NZL)

COURT 9 start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [Alt] B. Zapata Miralles (ESP) vs [13] J. Sousa (POR)
Qualifying – [6] M. Cressy (USA) or [WC] L. Van Assche (FRA) vs [Alt] R. Albot (MDA) or [14] H. Rune (DEN)
[8] M. Arevalo (ESA) / J. Rojer (NED) vs A. de Minaur (AUS) / C. Norrie (GBR)

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will be aiming to capture his third Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title this week when he returns to the Tour in Monaco.

However, before the serious business starts on Sunday, the top seed joined former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in the Casino Square, where the pair competed in an entertaining mini-match in front of an excitable crowd.

Djokovic and Wawrinka hit trick shots, posed for photos and chatted with each other as they delighted the fans in Monte-Carlo with their array of skills.

^{Photo Credit: Stephane Danna/Monte-Carlo}

The singles stars arrived at the Monte-Carlo Country Club earlier this week and trained together on Thursday on Court Rainier III ahead of the third ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season.

Djokovic lifted the trophy on the clay in Monte-Carlo in 2013 and 2015 and is competing in just his second event of the season here after reaching the quarter-finals in Dubai in February.

Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Wawrinka arrives at the clay-court tournament having not played at a tour-level event since last March due to injury. The former World No. 3 triumphed in Monte-Carlo in 2014 and accepted a wild card into the draw.

Djokovic will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Marcos Giron in his first match and could meet #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in a blockbuster quarter-final clash. Wawrinka is in the bottom quarter of the draw and will open against Alexander Bublik.

Defending champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic will face a stacked draw packed with singles champions and dangerous duos as they aim to clinch their first title of the season at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters doubles tournament.

The second seeds could face reigning men’s singles titlist Stefanos Tsitsipas in their opening match, with the World No. 5 teaming with brother Petros Tsitsipas after they received a wild card into the event. The Greeks will begin against Andrey Golubev and Lorenzo Sonego.

Mektic and Pavic captured nine tour-level trophies together last season, including three Masters 1000 crowns and the Wimbledon title. They have failed to match the same heights this season, with their best result in 2022 coming in Dubai, where they advanced to the final.

Sixth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah have won two ATP Masters 1000 crowns and two Grand Slam titles together and are seeded to meet Mektic and Pavic in the quarter-finals in the bottom quarter. The Colombians open against Belgian tandem Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.

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In the top half of the draw, new World No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings Joe Salisbury and partner Rajeev Ram will face Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig or Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar in their first match in Monte-Carlo.

Salisbury, who has clinched eight tour-level titles in his career, will be targeting a second Masters 1000 crown with Ram after the pair triumphed in Toronto last season. Salisbury is the third man from Great Britain to reach ATP World No. 1, joining Andy Murray (singles) and Jamie Murray (doubles).

The British-American team are seeded to meet Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the semi-finals. The third seeds have captured four Masters 1000 crowns as a team and reached the last four in Monte-Carlo in 2021. They will play wild cards Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys or Daniel Evans and Diego Schwartzman in the second round.

Meanwhile, singles stars Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Hubert Hurkacz, Jannik Sinner and Stan Wawrinka all lurk in the bottom half of the draw. Hurkacz lifted the Miami title with John Isner last week and will team with Sinner for the second time this season. The Polish-Italian pair could face fourth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicola Mahut in the second round if they can overcome Marcelo Melo and Zverev in their opener.

Herbert and Mahut clinched the title in Montpellier in February and will be aiming to lift their eighth Masters 1000 trophy together this week, while Auger-Aliassime and Wawrinka are teaming for the first time and play Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic in the first round.

Seventh seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski have enjoyed a dream start to the season, lifting three tour-level crowns since teaming for the first time in January. They are in the top half and will meet Rohan Bopanna and Jamie Murray in the first round. Briton Skupski reached the final with countryman Daniel Evans in Monte-Carlo last year.

Serbian twin brothers Ivan Sabanov and Matej Sabanov continued their Houston hot streak to reach their second ATP Tour final with a battling victory Friday at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Clay Court Championship.

The 29-year-olds defeated the all-American pairing of William Blumberg and Max Schnur, 6-3, 7-5, to make it five sets in a row on the red clay of Texas. After surviving a Match Tie-break in their opening match, the Serbian duo upset third seeds Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock in Thursday’s quarter-finals.

Strong on serve behind an 83 per cent (33/40) first-serve win rate, the Sabanov brothers were three of four on break chances Friday, including two crucial breaks late in the second set as they stormed back 1-4 down.

In Saturday’s final, the duo will seek to extend its record in tour-level finals to 2-0 following an 2021 triumph in Belgrade last April. The pair await the winner of the second semi-final between top seeds Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell and the Uruguayan/American duo of Pablo Cuevas and Hunter Reese.

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The Grand Prix Hassan II final in Marrakech will feature two unseeded pairings as Andrea Vavassori and Jan Zielinski take on Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez.

Vavassori and Zielinski took out top seeds Andrey Golubev and Fabrice Martin, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 11-9, with the Italian/Polish duo saving a pair of match points as they served to send the second set to a tie-break on Friday. 

Matos and Vega Hernandez saved all three break points rthey faced in a 7-5, 7-6(6) win over Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Aisam Qureshi.