Defending champ Reilly Opelka ousted from NY Open by qualifier Jason Jung

Reilly Opelka won’t be defending his New York Open title this year.

That’s because Jason Jung, a 30-year-old qualifier who has dwelled in the hinterlands of tennis, beat him Friday night in a quarterfinal, taking advantage of Opelka’s impatience for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

The NY Open recently has been a proving ground for qualifier success. Last year Brayden Schnur qualified and made the final, losing to Opelka.

And now the NY Open is the venue for Jung’s modest success. Last year he won his first two matches here before losing to Sam Querrey in a quarterfinal. Of Jung’s career seven main-draw victories at the ATP Tour level, five have come on the black courts of NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum. American Jung, who plays under the Taipei flag, this year eliminated 2018 winner Kevin Anderson in the first round.

So what about his success at the NY Open?

“That’s a good question,” Jung said. “I’m not sure. Played it last year, it’s taken me this far. I’ll take it.”

The court, he says, is a help.

“The court is not as fast as people think it is,” he said. “Gives me a little more time to get to the ball against these big guys.”

Opelka, a 6-11 bomber, never plays long points, but Friday night he made too many errors, swatting away at the ball, and he didn’t really dominate with his big serve.

Jung will play the winner of the late match between Jordan Thompson and Andreas Seppi.

Two battles of the baselines produced semifinal opponents during the Friday afternoon matches. Miomir Kecmanovic defeated Ugo Humbert, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, and Kyle Edmund rallied to beat Soonwoo Kwon, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5). Kecmanovic and Edmund will play each other for the very first time on Saturday.

Kecmanovic, who is the 54th ranked player in the world,  has a long ways to go reach the heights of Serbian countryman and mentor Novak Djokovic, but there are definitely similarities in their games. Solid defense along the baseline, a dependable return of serve and penetrating groundstrokes earned him the win over Humbert.

“The guy was playing really well, he was hitting everything that you can imagine,” Kecmanovic said. “I just try to get one more ball back every time, make him play that one extra shot, try to make him miss, get him nervous.

"Try to hit deep on every shot, penetrate the court, it helped me get some shorter balls, easier balls that I could take and go on the offense.”

Edmund of Britain is ranked 62nd, but once was ranked as high 14th until a left knee injury early in 2019 slowed him down. He’s clawing his way back and was able to assert his aggressive game in the crucial moments against Kwon, who played in India last week before coming here and winning two matches, including a takedown of second-seeded Milos Raonic in the second round.

“He’s got confidence from last week,” Edmund said. “To have someone come from India and play good tennis straightaway, beating Milos, shows he’s in a good place.”

Edmund is getting himself into a better place. He pulled himself together after losing a first set that he led 2-0, 40-15.

“Both of us were playing aggressive tennis,” Edmund said. “He was brave, his backhand was very good today. Either of us didn’t do a lot wrong. It was a good match. I played aggressively and I think I got rewarded for it in the end.”

Notes & quotes:

Players have mentioned this week how slow the black courts are here. Said Edmund: “The court is slow, it’s got a lot of sand in it. It’s quite gritty. You can see on the court how much tennis fur there is every day on the court because the balls are getting chopped up, losing their fur. The balls become big, they become heavier. When the new balls are in play they zip off the court but they very quickly slow up.”