Stan Wawrinka Stunned by Reilly Opelka at Wimbledon Championships 2019

Published 07/03/2019, 10:19 AM EDT

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Reilly Opelka stuns the 3-time grand slam champion, Stan Wawrinka in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships 2019 on Wednesday. Opelka reaches the third round of a grand slam for the first time in his career after defeating Wawrinka in a thrilling five-setter 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 4-6, 8-6.

The first set was quite an equal one till 5-5. However, Reilly Opelka broke Stan Wawrinka to go 6-5 up. The American then held his serve and win the opening set 7-5 to get an early advantage over the Swiss.

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In the second set, the 6ft. 11-inch Opelka hit the ball into the net as Stan Wawrinka got an early break. He went up 3-1 in the second set. Opelka, however, got a chance to break back but Stan Wawrinka gave an incredible fightback to save 2 break points and get a lead of 4-1. Stan Wawrinka pulled the match back level as he conquered the second 6-3.

The match between Stan Wawrinka and Reilly Opelka went to the decider as Opelka fights back to win the fourth set 6-4. The American star won the set after fighting off some breakpoints, earlier in the set.

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In the final set, Stan Wawrinka saved two break points to level the set 1-1. Opelka also saved one break point in the very next game to hold a crucial service game. The match went past the three-hour mark when the scoreboard read 6-6 in the final set with both the players holding their serve. It looked like the match will go onto the first 5th set tiebreaker at the Wimbledon Championships.

Stan Wawrinka was serving to stay in the match at 7-6. However, Opelka won three consecutive points to 0-40 and earned three match points. The Swiss managed to save one with a big serve but could not hold on to the second match point as he hit the ball into the net. Reilly Opelka won the final set 8-6.

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Written by:

Varun Khanna

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Starting off as a tennis author in 2018, Varun Khanna has gone on to contribute to EssentiallySports in various capacities. After setting up interviews with the likes of Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Alizé Cornet, and Noah Rubin, Varun is now part of all major ATP and WTA press conferences and has gone on to pen more than 1300 articles for EssentiallySports. He now heads the tennis and NBA division of the organization.
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