Opelka lost in qualifiers but beats De Jong in main tournament

Reilly Opelka made good use of his lucky loser status. The American service canon defeated Jesper de Jong in a three-setter, in a match that not entirely surprisingly produced a couple of tiebreaks: 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 6-2.

In the second set, De Jong could hope for a win in straight sets after coming back from a 5-2 deficit. In the tiebreak, Opelka still managed to force a third set.

While it still turned sunny on centre court in the evening after a rainy day, the lights went out for De Jong. Twice he had to give up his service game in set three and so the 6-foot-11 man advanced to the second round.

Opelka, who lost in the qualifying tournament but still made it to the main draw after a cancellation, will have a chance to reach the quarterfinals against Chilean Nicolas Jarry.