Reilly Opelka and John Isner played the longest tour-level singles tie-break in the history of the ATP Tour (since 1990) on Saturday evening. Opelka won it 24/22 to clinch a 7-6(7), 7-6(22) victory against Isner and with it a spot in the Dallas Open final.

Opelka saved 10 set points before finally converting his eighth match point with a backhand passing shot up the line in the forecourt.

“It was bizarre. It’s just next point, kind of back to the guessing game. I’ve got to take care of what I do and hopefully guess right. And I did. I guessed wrong a lot, obviously,” Opelka said. “He was in more points than I was. I really hit some big shots, I stayed tough, I also served extremely well. I was very clutch.”

Twelve consecutive sets in the Opelka-Isner ATP Head2Head rivalry have gone to a tie-break, with Opelka winning nine of them. 

“At a certain point it just becomes back and forth, but I also had a set point on my serve,” Isner said. “Couldn’t convert. I probably had an 85 per cent chance to win that point on first serve if you look at the stats, maybe more. And [it] didn’t happen. Then it became the back and forth out there after that point. I actually felt like I was the one getting more returns in play and I just tightened up a bit when I did get returns back in play and got it to neutral.”

Longest Tour-Level Singles Tie-Breaks (since 1990)

Before Saturday evening, the longest tie-break had lasted 38 points. That has happened on seven occasions, most recently in Auckland in 2020, when Leonardo Mayer took a 20/18 tie-break against Marco Cecchinato. The other players who have won tie-breaks by that score are Andy Murray (2017 Dubai), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2007 Australian Open), Jose Acasuso (2006 Toronto), Roger Federer (2004 Tennis Masters Cup) and Goran Ivanisevic (1993 US Open and 1997 Queen’s Club).

Reilly Opelka and John Isner have played their fair share of tie-breaks, but they’ve never been involved in one like this.

In the longest tie-break in a tour-level match since the start of the ATP Tour in 1990, Opelka won a 24-22 marathon to edge his compatriot on Saturday in the Dallas Open semi-finals. On his eighth match point, Opelka’s mini-break ended a run of 26 straight points on serve. Prior to that, he saved 10 set points on his way to a thrilling 7-6(7), 7-6(22) victory.

“I lost track,” Opelka said when asked to describe the tie-break, referring to the unprecedented seven changes of end. “At one point it was 21-all… that’s something I’ve never seen before, but if it was going to happen, it certainly would have been in this match.

“It just shows how clutch he is,” he said of Isner’s effort. “I had some house money being up a set. He didn’t, and he hit some unbelievable spots on his serve down match point.”

Opelka moves on to his fourth tour-level final with the win. The Americans have now played 12 consecutive tie-break sets in their ATP Head2Head series, with Opelka winning their past four meetings to improve to 4-1 in the matchup. There have been no breaks of serve in their past 98 games.

A truly insane tie-break to end this clash 😮 @ReillyOpelka saves 🔟 set points before ousting Isner 7-6(7) 7-6(22) to reach the final in Dallas.#DALOpen pic.twitter.com/z6Ca7n4rz3

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 13, 2022

Opelka fired 39 aces in the match, a two-sets record since the stat was first kept in 1991, and not far shy of the record 45 aces in a best-of-three match. He is yet to face a break point in Dallas. Isner tallied 21 aces of his own, and both men won more than 85 per cent of their first-serve points in a match that did not see a break point.

The marathon tie-break was eventful throughout. Early on it produced a stretch of five points that saw four mini-breaks. They again traded mini-breaks from 8-8, as both men came up with backhand passes and Opelka saved a set point on the return. From there, it all went the way of the server until Opelka claimed a historic win with another backhand pass, ending what he called “a second-set breaker that felt like a third and fourth set.”

Head2Head @ReillyOpelka vs @JohnIsner
2022 @DALOpenTennis SF: Opelka 7-6(7) 7-6(22)
2019 @ATLOpenTennis 2R: Opelka 7-6(2) 6-7(5) 7-6(5)
2019 NY Open SF: Opelka 6-7(8) 7-6(14) 7-6(4)
2019 @AustralianOpen 1R: Opelka 7-6(4) 7-6(6) 6-7(4) 7-6(5)
2016 Atlanta SF: Isner 6-7(5) 6-4 6-2 https://t.co/Uwydg3iaxw

— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) February 13, 2022

Opelka will face Jenson Brooksby in the title match after the 21-year-old saved four match points to edge Marcos Giron, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), in the longest Dallas match of the week at just under three hours.

The 2021 ATP Newcomer of the Year is seeking his first ATP Tour title in his second final, while Giron was denied his maiden final appearance. Brooksby was competing in his fourth semi-final in six ATP Tour appearances.

The match initially had the makings of a routine win, as Brooksby hit a screaming forehand pass to secure a break advantage at 3-1 in the second set. The hot shot provoked a roar from the fourth seed, but his momentum stalled soon after. 

From 1-4 down, Giron began to take more chances with his baseline game and got his reward with a break back. The seventh seed continued to force the issue and was able to frustrate Brooksby in a tie-break that featured just three mini-breaks.

“I thought I competed really well,” Brooksby said, assessing the match as a whole, “but I just needed to be more positive with myself, which is something I’m working on.”

Giron rode that momentum into the third but could not convert a break point in a four-deuce second game. Brooksby was back to his steady self as he created a 15/40 opening at 2-all, but was left to rue a missed second-serve return off the backhand as Giron kept his nose in front.

There were no further break chances until the 12th game of the set, when some untimely Brooksby errors gave Giron four match points, all unclaimed. A brilliant Brooksby pass brought up his first game point of the four-deuce game, and he took it to set up a tie-break finale.

After Brooksby sailed a tired-looking forehand slice to fall a mini-break behind at 3-4, he snapped back into gear for an aggressive final flurry, winning four of the match’s final five points to advance.

Asked about his fitness following the nearly three-hour contest, Brooksby gave a positive report: “Pretty good actually. Usually I think I’d be a little more beat up, but at least right now I’m feeling good body-wise.”

The result will likely propel Brooksby into the Top 50; one year ago, he was outside the Top 300.

Brooksby and Opelka have just one ATP Head2Head meeting to date, with Brooksby taking a 6-4, 6-4 win in October in Antwerp, also on indoor hard courts. Looking ahead to a potential matchup with Brooksby, Opelka said the rising star is “one of my favourite players to watch, probably my least favourite player to play.”

Felix Auger-Aliassime is one step close to finally capturing his maiden tour-level title after an impressive comeback win over defending champion Andrey Rublev at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

The third seed seemed under pressure for much of the semi-final clash before accelerating to a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2 win on Saturday evening.

“It was a close second set,” said Auger-Aliassime after the match. “I played one really strong game, finished it off well on my serve and then after the third started I felt really good physically, felt like I was able to put pressure on him and move him around, and then things got better and better.”

There are just two places between World No. 7 Rublev and No. 9 Auger-Aliassime in the ATP Rankings and a tight encounter reflected that. But the Canadian found a way to raise his game at big moments to secure his first win over the Russian.

“It’s always a great feeling, it’s kind of a little milestone when you beat a player that you’ve always lost to before, especially top players and I think it shows I’ve improved my game, I’m a more complete player.

“Again today I served well when I needed to. I came up with some good shots, especially at the end of the second set. I really needed to stick in there and give myself a chance and then to finish the way I did against a player like Andrey was great. The third set was one of my best this week.”

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Rublev came into the semi-finals having not dropped serve in his opening three matches in Rotterdam. and he showed real composure under pressure to maintain that record in the first set. He recovered from 0/40 down in both the sixth and 12th games as Auger-Aliassime was unable to convert.

After saving a fourth set point to level at 6-6 with a stunning backhand down the line, Rublev then enjoyed a fast start to the tie-break, surging to a 3/0 lead. Auger-Aliassime was able to peg it back to 5/5, but then struck a backhand into the net to gift Rublev his first set point, an opportunity the Russian gratefully accepted.

Rublev seemed in control but once Auger-Aliassime recovered from 0/40 to level at 3-3 in the second set, there was a clear shift in momentum. The Russian missed an easy forehand to finally surrender his serve in Rotterdam as the Canadian broke for 5-4 before holding to level up proceedings.

The sudden turnaround seemed to affect Rublev’s concentration. The Russian saved break points in his opening service game of the decider, but could not repeat the trick in either the third or fifth games of the set, as Auger-Aliassime found consistency in his groundstrokes.

The young Canadian went on to seal an impressive victory in two hours and 21 minutes, having blasted 41 winners, including 11 aces.

His opponent in the championship match will be World No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek overcame a scare before ending the dream run of Czech qualifier Jiri Lehecka with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win earlier on Saturday. Tsitsipas leads Auger-Aliassime 5-2 in their ATP Head2Head series 5-2.

Auger-Aliassime holds a 0-8 record in tour-level finals, but will do everything he can to break his duck on Sunday. “Hopefully all the stars are aligned,” he said, “but for my part I just need to play with no regrets, bring my best intensity and focus, give it my all and we’ll see what the outcome is, but I’m confident I can pull this through.”