The day was highlighted by two American singles players and one American doubles team advancing to the Semifinals in tight battles on Centre Court.
Wild Card Reilly Opelka furthered his impressive comeback, prevailing over American Mackenzie McDonald 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The former World No. 17 recorded 27 aces across the near two-hour match, marking the most by any player in the 2024 tournament. The victory also marks an ATP Tour record as Opelka being the lowest ranked player to reach a tournament Semifinal.
“It was a rough first set, I didn’t return well and you still see some of those moments where I am still rusty and didn’t serve super sharp. Luckily, I was able to find the right cues and make those switches before it was too late…I was playing against a really good player today,” said Opelka. “It has been really great here in Newport, you get to walk to everything here— the courts, the hotel, eating. The whole setup has been awesome.”
Opelka will face Alex Michelsen in the fourth round.
Michelsen continued his winning streak at Newport, defeating fellow countryman Alexsandar Kovacevic 6-4, 6-4. The No. 3 seed played a complete match, posting more than 70% of his first serve, second serve and net points, respectively.
“I played super well today, I didn’t serve the best in the first set but I picked it up in the second. I’m really happy, it was a good win,” said Michelsen. “It’s always great to get to the weekend of the tournament, and this time it’s not my first rodeo here. I’m gonna try to go all the way this year.”
The American improves to a stellar 6-1 career record at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open after making the finals in 2023.
American Marcus Giron completed a come-from-behind victory over Benoit Paire. After the Frenchman was up 6-4, 1-0 before yesterday’s suspension, Giron rallied on serve; winning an impressive 80% of first serve points in the final set.
“I was happy to persevere and get through it. It was a tough match, wasn’t the cleanest for both of us; it was windy conditions and hot. I competed well so I am really happy with that,” Giron said. “It’s beautiful here, there is so much history and I feel like the environment is really relaxed. The people are really happy which is nice— you can feel the energy.
Now the highest-ranked seed remaining, (No. 2) Giron looks ahead to Alex Bolt in the Semifinal.
The day kicked off with doubles action on Centre Court, where the reigning NCAA Doubles Champions, Robert Cash and James Tracy defeated fellow countrymen and No. 5 seed, Evan King and Reese Stadler 7-6, (6) 7-5. After two tightly contested sets, the Wild Card team’s service game proved to be the deciding factor; garnering 83% of their first serves and winning 83% of second serve points.
In their debut tour-level tournament, the Ohio State graduates now advance to the semifinals of the 2024 Infosys Hall of Fame Open. R. Cash and Tracy will face Anirudh Chandrasekar and Arjun Kadhe in the next round.
India’s Chandrasekar and Kadhe continued their dominant run in the doubles draw– taking down USA’s Christian Harrison and Vasil Kirkov. The duo bested their opponents on second serve points in the tiebreaker, winning all three attempts to help advance into the semifinals.
The last doubles match of the day resulted in Australia’s Luke Saville and Aleksandar Vukic knocking off the No. 2 seed Julian Cash and Robert Galloway 6-4, 6-7, (3) 13-11. During the neck and neck play that featured four match point attempts, Saville and Vukic came out on top– stowing away 9 of 12 service points in the tiebreaker to come away with the thrilling victory. They await the winner of the match between Andre Goransson and Sem Verbeek versus Alex Michelsen and McDonald.
The 2024 Infosys Hall of Fame Open quarterfinals continues today at 11:00 a.m. The day features a match between the No. 4 seed Christopher Eubanks and No. 6 seed Aleksandar Vukic, while the doubles semifinals kicks off with Anirudh Chandrasekar and Arjun Kadhewit taking on Americans R. Cash and Tracy.
Prior to match play, arena host Blair Henley will conduct a Chat with Champions at 10:20 a.m. Chat with Champions takes place each day on the Sipsmith Lawn.
Tune into live action and content across the Infosys Hall of Fame Open social channels on Facebook and Instagram, as well as live on the Tennis One App.
