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World No. 24 Reilly Opelka blamed a poor serving display after his US Open exit on Monday. Opelka, 24, had a favorable matchup to reach the US Open quarterfinal but he didn't make the most out of his chance. Opelka won the first set against Lloyd Harris but the South African recovered to win 6-7 (6) 6-4 6-1 6-3 and reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Opelka, who is one of the best servers on the Tour, lost his serve six times against Harris. "Yeah, I mean, I don't think I served my best. I actually served poorly, to be honest. He served great. He was the better server. Then with me not serving at a high percentage of first serves, he's going to put a lot of balls in play, and just changes the whole dynamic of the match when I'm not serving great," Opelka underlined.
"That's kind of what makes me so difficult and it really was off. Usually I can manage it better and make some adjustments throughout the match, which I was trying, but a little out of character for me to serve that poorly throughout the whole match, but he served great."
Opelka still has ways to go before becoming a top player
Opelka recently made his maiden Masters final in Toronto but he stood no chance against world No.
2 Daniil Medvedev. Medvedev, who was the top seed in Toronto, saw off Opelka 6-4 6-3. Medvedev owns a 4-1 head-to-head over Opelka and his last two wins over the American came in straight sets. Opelka's lone win over Medvedev came last year, when he recovered from a set down to stun the Russian in St.
Petersburg. "Possibly. Medvedev really beat me head to head. In a two-out-of-three set match, I didn't have much of a chance, you know, three out of five, which I didn't have much of a chance at the French Open with him. And then there is still another level above him, which is Novak. So, no, no, I'm not there, I'm not close yet," Opelka explained.