LOS ANGELES: Reilly Opelka fired 39 aces and held on through an historic second-set tiebreaker to beat John Isner 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (24/22) Saturday to reach the final of the ATP Dallas Open.
The decisive 46-point tiebreaker was the longest in a tour-level match since the start of the ATP Tour in 1990.
Reilly, the second seed, finally put it away on his eighth match point when he slid a backhand winner past Isner to end one of the rare rallies in the servers' duel.
It ended a run of 26 straight points run on serve.
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Third-seeded Isner fired a relatively modest 21 aces, but like Opelka never faced a break point.
Isner had 10 set points himself in the second-set tiebreaker. His best chance came on his own serve at 9/8, but Opelka managed to beat him at the net.
Opelka has now claimed nine of dozen consecutive tiebreakers he has played against Isner, pushing his record against his compatriot to 4-1.
Isner's only success against him came in their first meeting in Atlanta in 2016.
Opelka, who will be seeking a third career title, next faces either Marcos Giron or Jenson Brooksby, who faced off in the second all-American semi-final later Saturday.
It was the first time that four Americans featured in the semi-finals of an ATP tournament since San Jose in 2004, when Andy Roddick won the tournament.
Giron booked his semi-final spot with a three-set victory over top-seeded Taylor Fritz.
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