Opelka wins first   ATP title at New York Open  

Reilly Opelka captured the first ATP Tour title of his career Sunday, defeating Canada's Brayden Schnur, 6-1, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (7), in the final of the New York Open, held on Long Island, N.Y.

The 21-year-old Opelka, who served 43 aces in the final and a total of 156 in the tournament, had six match points before finally beating the 23-year-old from Montreal in just over two hours.

"It feels really good to win this event," Opelka told ATPTour.com following his win. "I didn’t think it was going to come this soon, to be honest."

Opelka opened the tournament with a come-from-behind 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over No. 5 seed Adrian Mannarino of France in the first round. He then defeated Denis Istomin and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in his next two matches, before his history-making victory over top-seeded John Isner in the semifinals, in which the Americans broke the ATP Tour record for combined aces in a three-set match (81), with 43 for Opelka and 38 for Isner.

Schnur, a qualifier in the tournament, defeated No. 3 seed Steve Johnson and No. 6 Sam Querrey en route to the final. He had never won a tour-level match before this week.

The 6-foot-11 Opelka, from West Palm Beach, Fla., has had an impressive start to the 2019 season, earning his first Grand Slam win last month at the Australian Open—also against Isner—and reaching his first ATP final this week in New York. He was at a career-high ranking of No. 89 heading into the Long Island tournament.