Opelka Breaks De Minaur, And Duck, In Cincinnati

By Chris Oddo | Sunday August 10, 2025

Reilly Opelka turned a lost cause into found confidence on Sunday at the Cincinnati Open.

The bomb-serving American earned his first career win over Alex De Minaur in six tries, and he did it in decisive fashion, coming through 7-6(6) 6-4 to set a third-round clash with Argentina’s Francisco Comesana.

“I didn’t serve as well as I’d have liked to, but everything else was working,” said Opelka, who hadn’t faced De Minaur since 2022. “My forehand helped me a lot and my backhand, playing with a lot of offense and I was pretty consistent from the baseline the whole match.”

73rd-ranked Opelka is now 2-1 against the Top-10 in 2025, after defeating Novak Djokovic in Brisbane at the start of the season.

After starting the season at 283 in the rankings due to an injury hiatus that forced him off the ATP Tour for nearly two years, 27-year-old Opelka is now up to 65 in the ATP live rankings. He had hip surgery in 2022, then right wrist surgery in 2023.