At the Miami Open, Jack Draper was eliminated in the second round as Riley Opelka took two sets to a tiebreak and won both.
The hulking 6-foot-11-inch American was throwing serves that were almost impossible to return.
Draper arrived in Florida energized by reaching the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, his second tournament on the ATP Tour, after being sidelined for nearly eight months with an arm injury.
But any hopes of a rematch were dashed as Opelka overcame two tie-breaks to win 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-0).
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Speaking to Laura Robson, Jack Draper said he is in a good place but not where he wanted to be heading into the Miami Open.
Opelka hit her stride with four consecutive aces in the opening round, and continued to do so, finishing with 25 aces and 47 winners.
Draper, who had never advanced beyond the second round in Miami, committed only six unforced errors but couldn’t find an opening for his opponent.
Draper, who lost his British No. 1 spot to Cameron Norrie this week, is at risk of falling further down the rankings ahead of the clay court swing with this defeat.
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Highlights of the WTA Miami Open match between Katie Boulter and Clara Thorson.
However, in the rain-hit match, Katie Boulter advanced to the third round after her opponent Clara Thorson retired early in the deciding set.
Rain showers caused a stop-start early on, and when the match finally started to take off, Boulter was unable to close out a 5-3 lead in the first set and cried out in frustration after losing the tiebreak.
The British No. 3 then trailed 2-0 in the second set, but fought back and won the first game of the third set when 17th seed Dane Towson was deemed unable to continue due to injury and the day ended with the vaulter leading 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 1-0.
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