Game On: Sports News, Highlights & Commentary
- Reilly Opelka embraced his "servebot" identity, using destructive serving to completely take opponents' rackets out of play.
- Jack Draper is still early in his comeback from a bone bruise after seven months out; Miami is just his third ATP event.
- Katie Boulter continued her return, advancing after Clara Tauson's retirement; she won the WTA 250 Ostrava title and sits at No 63.
Jack Draper suffered a tough defeat in his opening match at the Miami Open as he could do little to neutralise a dominant serving performance from Reilly Opelka, who fired down 25 aces in two sets en route to a 7-6(3), 7-6(0) win.
The defeat is a difficult setback for Draper, the 25th seed, as he continues to navigate the early stages of his return to competition from a bone bruise injury that forced him off the tour for seven months. Miami is just the third ATP tournament of his comeback.
While some big servers view the phrase as a pejorative, undermining the other qualities in his game, the 6ft 11in Opelka proudly describes himself as a servebot. This performance was a demonstration of his destructive serving and his ability to completely take his racket out of the hands of his opponents. Draper did not face a break point in the entire match but he simply could not handle Opelka’s serve.
“I didn’t have many chances, especially on his serve,” said Draper. “I didn’t get broken in the match, so that was kind of my job, right? And, I guess I’m still at the very early stages of coming back from what was a very difficult injury to deal with. And if someone said that I’m going to be playing Dubai, Indian Wells, here, and go home feeling good, then I would have taken that, because it’s a long season to go.”
Patience has been an important quality for Katie Boulter, who continued her impressive return to form by reaching the third round after the 17th seed Clara Tauson was forced to retire due to injury while Boulter led 6-7(4), 6-4, 1-0.
Boulter, who had fallen out of the top 100 after a tough season last year, bounced back with a brilliant title run at the WTA 250 in Ostrava last month and now sits at No 63 in the live rankings. She awaits Karolina Muchova, the 13th seed, who beat Camila Osorio 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
“During December and January we worked so, so hard but you never really expect it to kind of just click straight away,” said Boulter. “I told myself I needed to be patient and be ready for a battle for multiple months to then get my best self back. So it’s come quite quickly. But at the same time, I know there’s a long way to go. And this is just the beginning for me.”
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