Delray Beach Open: Opelka edges Millman in thriller, sets Norrie clash in final
Feb 20, 2022
Florida [US], February 20 : USA's Reilly Opelka edged out Australian John Millman 7-6(8), 6-7(3), 7-6(4) to reach his second Delray Beach Open final in the last three years on Saturday.
It took the American three hours to defeat Millman in a match that went into three tie-breaks. Opelka, who won his third career title in Dallas last week, aims to become the fifth two-time champion in tournament history. He is also the tournament's first-ever No. 2 seed to reach the final.
Opelka will face the World No. 13 and No. 1 seed, Cameron Norrie, in the final. This will be for the very first time in the tournament that the top two seeds will square off in the summit clash.
Norrie, who is undefeated as the No. 1 seed on the ATP Tour, will also be looking to become the highest-ranked player to win the title in tournament history.
Earlier, the top seed gave nothing away in a solid 6-3, 6-3 victory over American wild card Tommy Paul.
After starting 2022 with four straight defeats, Norrie sparked his season to life with a quarter-final run in Rotterdam last week and will now play for a third ATP Tour title in Sunday's championship match in Florida.
It marks an improvement on Norrie's 2021 run at the ATP 250 event when he was defeated by Sebastian Korda at the semi-final stage.
