Reilly Opelka defeats John Isner in longest tie-break in ATP tour history at Dallas Open 2022

Reilly Opelka defeated John Isner in the longest tie-break in ATP tour history

Reilly Opelka booked his place in the final of the 2022 Dallas Open with a 7-6(7), 7-6(22) victory over compatriot John Isner in the semifinals. The second set, which ended in a 24-22 tie-break, equalled the record for the longest tie-break ever played on the ATP tour.

Before Opelka and Isner came along, the record belonged solely to Aki Rahunen and Peter Nyborg. The pair played a 24-22 tie-break in the first qualifying round for the 1992 Copenhagen Open in a 7-6(22), 2-6, 6-3 win for Rahunen.

In the main draw of an ATP event, the previous record was 20-18 and has been achieved eight times. Here is the complete list:

Tournament	Tiebreak winner	Tiebreak loser
1973 Wimbledon	Bjorn Borg	Premjit Lall
1993 US Open	Goran Ivanisevic	Daniel Nestor
1997 Stella Artois Championships	Goran Ivanisevic	Greg Rusedski
2004 Tennis Masters Cup	Roger Federer	Marat Safin
2006 Rogers Masters	Jose Acasuso	Bjorn Phau
2007 Australian Open	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	Andy Roddick
2017 Dubai Open	Andy Murray	Philipp Kohlschreiber
2020 Auckland Open	Leonardo Mayer	Marco Cecchinato

With the win, Opelka extended his head-to-head record against Isner to 4-1. His only loss came in the first ever meeting between the pair, a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2 defeat in the semifinals of the 2016 Atlanta Open.

Since then, the duo have played 12 sets across four matches, all of which have ended in tie-breaks. In the 2019 Australian Open, Opelka defeated ninth seed Isner 7-6(4), 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 7-6(5) in the first round.

last 12 sets between Reilly Opelka and John Isner:

7-6(4), 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 7-6(5) 6-7(8), 7-6(14), 7-6(4), 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(7), 7-6(22)

In the semifinals of that year's New York Open, the World No. 23 came from behind to prevail 6-7(8), 7-6(14), 7-6(4) and went on to win the tournament, his first on the ATP tour.

The duo faced off five months later at the Atlanta Open, this time in the second round. The 24-year-old pulled off a victory over the top seed, winning 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 7-6(5).

Head2Head @ReillyOpelka vs @JohnIsner
2022 @DALOpenTennis SF: Opelka 7-6(7) 7-6(22)
2019 @ATLOpenTennis 2R: Opelka 7-6(2) 6-7(5) 7-6(5)
2019 NY Open SF: Opelka 6-7(8) 7-6(14) 7-6(4)
2019 @AustralianOpen 1R: Opelka 7-6(4) 7-6(6) 6-7(4) 7-6(5)
2016 Atlanta SF: Isner 6-7(5) 6-4 6-2 twitter.com/ATPMediaInfo/s…

The Dallas Open encounter also witnessed 60 aces in total, 39 from Opelka and 21 from Isner. The match broke the record for the most aces in a two-set match while Opelka's haul broke the record for the most aces by a player in a two-set match.

The record for the most aces hit in a best-of-three fixture belongs to Ivo Karlovic against Daniel Brands at the 2014 Zagreb Indoors tournament. Karlovic hit a whopping 44 aces in his 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(3) win.

Reilly Opelka faces Jenson Brooksby in the final of the 2022 Dallas Open

Reilly Opelka squares off against Jenson Brooksby in the final of the 2022 Dallas Open

Reilly Opelka will lock horns with fourth seed Jenson Brooksby in the final of the 2022 Dallas Open. The World No. 54 saved four match points in his semi-final encounter with Marcos Giron to win 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(5) in two hours and 53 minutes.

The finals are set.

🇺🇸 Opelka vs. 🇺🇸 Brooksby
Sunday
⌚️ 1 p.m.

#DALOpen https://t.co/hFKxxCpHhb

Their only previous encounter came at the 2021 European Open in Antwerp. Brooksby, who came from qualifying, managed to defeat fifth seed Opelka 6-4, 6-4. Sunday's All-American final will be the second for the fourth seed, while Reilly Opelka will be looking to win his third title on the ATP tour.