HOUSTON/STARNBERG April 9, 2022
No. 3 seed Reilly Opelka defeated Houston-born Gijs Brouwer, who is representing the Netherlands, 6-3, 7-5 in Friday’s quarterfinals of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.
In other action, Australian wild card Nick Kyrgios advanced to his first River Oaks semi-finals after a walkover from Michael Mmoh who was forced to withdraw from the match due to right adductor strain. Defending champion Cristian Garin moved to a career record of 8-0 at River Oaks with his quarterfinal victory over top-ranked US-American and No. 2 seed Taylor Fritz 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3. John Isner, the 2013 River Oaks champion, hit 15 aces en route to defeating his compatriot Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Just 2️⃣ wins away from defending his Houston crown 🏆@Garin_Cris upsets Fritz in a 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3 thriller 👏 #USClay pic.twitter.com/pPbxxlIKRL
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 8, 2022
Former Champions Square Off, Kyrgios Takes On Opelka Saturday
Kyrgios and Opelka battle for their first-ever River Oaks final. The two have only previously met at the ATP Masters 1000 in Canada last year, where Opelka won en route to the final. Garin faces Isner in the second singles semi-final. Garin eyes his seventh ATP Tour title match on clay while Isner seeks his first clay final in nine years. Garin also is bidding to be the first repeat champion at River Oaks since Steve Johnson (2017-18).
Australian Open Doubles Finalists Take On Serbian Twins In Doubles Final
Australian Open doubles finalists Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell take on Serbian twins Ivan Sabanov and Matej Sabanov in the 2022 doubles final at River Oaks. This will be Ebden and Purcell’s second doubles final of the season. The Sabanovs, who won their first career ATP Tour doubles title last year, enter their second career final together.
Notes
* There are three seeds in the semifinals at River Oaks for the first time since 2017.
* This will be just the third time since 2008 multiple former River Oaks champions reached the semifinals.
* Isner now has the sixth-most aces in a tournament with 54 so far. He is now just 10 shy of the tournament record of 64 that he set during his title run in 2013
* Opelka has matched his career-high by reaching his fourth semifinal this season.
* Kyrgios is the first Australian semifinalist at River Oaks since Lleyton Hewitt in 2009. He made his first semifinal on clay since 2016.
* Garin made his first ATP Tour semifinal since March 2021.
Friday, April 8, 2022
Singles – Quarterfinals
[5] Cristian Garin (Chile) def. [2] Taylor Fritz (USA) 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3
[3] Reilly Opelka (USA) def. [Q] Gijs Brouwer (Netherlands) 6-3, 7-5
[4] John Isner (USA) def. [6] Frances Tiafoe (USA) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
[WC] Nick Kyrgios def. [LL] Michael Mmoh (USA) walkover (right adductor strain)
Doubles – Semifinals
[1] Matthew Ebden (Australia) & Max Purcell (Australia) def. Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) & Hunter Reese (USA) 6-4, 6-3
Ivan Sabanov (Serbia) & Matej Sabanov (Serbia) def. [WC] William Blumberg (USA) & Max Schnur (USA) 6-3, 7-5
