Reilly Opelka produced the upset of the junior semi-finals, ousting No.1 seed and fellow American Taylor Fritz, 6-3, 7-6(13), with a brilliant display of serving.
Standing 6ft 10in, the unseeded Opelka fired down 18 aces and put Fritz under pressure he has rarely experienced this week at Wimbledon.
A double-fault by Fritz in the sixth game brought up the first break point and proved to be the pivotal moment. Opelka seized the opportunity with a stunning forehand down the line and proceeded to run away with the set.
Given Fritz’s impressive form this week, many in attendance on Court 18 were expecting a comeback. However, he went down another two break points at 2-2, and Opelka capitalised on a weak second serve to secure a 3-2 lead.
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All was not lost for the top junior remaining in the draw, though, as he forced a tie-break by breaking Opelka as he served for the match. Despite going 0-5 down, Fritz battled back with some impressive winners to bring up set point at 6-5. Opelka denied him that chance and the pair exchanged set points and match points until Opelka found the answer at 14-13, when Fritz drifted a forehand wide.
“It feels pretty good to be in a Wimbledon final,” said Opelka. “We know each other too well [for me to think of it like beating the top seed]. I practised with him four or five times a week in the whole month leading up to this. I thought I served really well overall, and I think I returned pretty well considering he has a good serve. I played a couple of good points on the return and that was it for the first set.
“It would definitely have been tough mentally [if I’d lost that tie-break] and had to get ready to play another set. It was definitely easier to get it done in two, but I let him back in the match at 5-0 up in the tie-break. It was 100 per cent choking.”
There was early drama in the other boys’ semi-final on Court 12, between Sweden’s Mikael Ymer and Finland’s Patrik Niklas-Salminen. When the trainer and the doctor were called on after the warm-up it did not look like Ymer would be able to play the match, let alone reach the final. However, salt replacements helped his dizziness pass and when Ymer held to love in the opening game, the crowd on Court 12 cheered in anticipation of getting a match after all.
Ymer took an early lead in the tie-break and sealed it with a winning volley but had a much easier run in the second set, requiring just one break to secure a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory to reach his first Grand Slam final.
“It’s huge, a great feeling that I’ve never felt before,” Ymer said. “I have watched other young players do so well in Grand Slams, and it’s a relief I can do it as well.”
One thing is certain: a Russian will win the girls’ singles trophy. Anna Blinkova, the No.12 seed, will play Sofya Zhuk on No.1 Court after she overcame Vera Lapko of Belarus, 6-2, 7-6(1).
Blinkova went a double-break up immediately on her way to winning the first set. She then overturned a three-game deficit in the second set to force a tie-break, which she won convincingly to book her place in the final.
“I won 6-3, 6-3 when I played her [Zhuk] last year, and we played when we were very little. I know her quite well,” she said. “I began the match very well today, I played very aggressive tennis.”
It's huge, a great feeling that I've never felt before
Over on Court 12, Zhuk enjoyed a convincing straight-sets win over Viktoria Kuzmova, wrapping up the match in 59 minutes, 6-1, 6-3. The result means the 15-year-old moves into the final without dropping a set. “I had never played against [Kuzmova] and I was really ready for this match,” she said.
“I pushed her from the beginning because I knew that if I came a little bit back she would start playing her game. It’s good [to be an all-Russian final], I’m excited for it.”
Asked why she feels she has fared better at Wimbledon than at Roehampton, where she lost in the third round, Zhuk said she has found the crowds a benefit. “There are lots of people and I love that.”
