Wildcard Opelka stuns Sock

MIAMI: Wildcard Reilly Opelka, ranked 228th in the world, stunned top seed and defending champion Jack Sock 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP tournament in Delray Beach, Florida.

Towering 20-year-old Opelka, playing in his first ATP level tournament of 2018, fired 17 aces past world number eight Sock to cap a day of upsets. Opelka will next face Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk, who sent sixth-seeded American John Isner packing 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/5). Unseeded American Steve Johnson dominated ninth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-4.

Isner fired 30 aces and held three match points but couldn’t hang on for the victory. For Isner it was another early exit. He accepted a wildcard into Delray Beach after falling in the first round of the New York Open last week.

Johnson notched his first career win over Raonic in four meetings. It was a bitter departure for Raonic, who reached the Delray Beach final last year but had to pull out against Sock because of a leg injury. Injuries limited Raonic’s time on the court in 2017, and his first-round victory over Japan’s Taro Daniel was his first Tour-level win in six months.