WHAT HAPPENED: German qualifier Dominik Koepfer scored the biggest win of his career on Wednesday night as he upset American Reilly Opelka, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6, in the Louis Armstrong Stadium nightcap.
After losing to the 6-foot-10 American three times in the past 12 months–all in ITF Challengers–the 25-year-old solved the Opelka serve on Wednesday and broke three times in the victory.
"I knew I had to focus on my own serve and play aggressive during my service games, because obviously he has an unreal serve," the German said in an on-court interview.
He dropped serve just once in the match, early in set three, despite facing eight break points. Six of those break points came in the third, including one that doubled as a set point at 5-6. After the crucial hold, Koepfer drew three consecutive unforced errors from his opponent's forehand for a 3-1 advantage in the tiebreak. As Opelka waned, he began to overhit.
The German stayed solid, reeling off the final four points of the match to comfortably take the tiebreak, 7-2. He ended the match with an inside-out lefty forehand winner, his passionate, vocal celebrations illustrating the magnitude of the victory in the grand scheme of his career.
Despite playing an American, Koepfer had plenty of support in the Armstrong crowd. He was cheered on by family and friends, many of whom traveled from Tulane University in New Orleans, where Koepfer was a college star.
After the win, "Green Wave" chants rained down from the crowd, something Koepfer grew accustomed to at collegiate matches before his 2016 graduation.
He was also supported by NHL veteran Dennis Seidenberg (pictured below, right), who grew up in a neighboring German town and trained with the same coach as Koepfer in his pre-hockey days as a junior tennis player.
Read More: NHL vet's Dominik Koepfer connection
WHAT IT MEANS: With the upset win, Koepfer extended his US Open record to a perfect 5-0. Prior to 2019, he had never competed in New York at any level, including juniors and qualifying.
In those five victories, he has dropped just two sets—one to Nicholas Mahut in qualifying, and the other to Jaume Munar in Round 1.
He will put that perfect record on the line in Round 3, when he takes on either 18-year-old American Jenson Brooksby (a fellow qualifier) or No. 17 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia. Their match will be played on Thursday, after rain washed out Day 3's scheduled play on the outer courts at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
MATCH POINT: Both men entered with 1-0 records in the US Open main draw, having made winning tournament debuts on Monday. Both also reached career highs on Aug. 12: Opelka at No. 42, where he is currently ranked, and Koepfer at No. 113. The German will move onto the cusp of the Top 100 with his third-round run.
The $165,000 he will collect for making Round 3 is more than half of his previous total career earnings of $332,732.
