Ranked world No. 32 Reilly Opelka toppled Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 6-4 triumph in two hours and 32 minutes at the Aviva Centre on Saturday.
All-court player Tsitsipas seized the moment to charge on, taking the set and the lead of what would turn out to be a challenging clash.
In the second set, the Florida native earned a 7-6(4) victory against the 2021 Monte-Carlo Masters champion, showcasing an impressive performance to win the tiebreak, forcing a decider.
Since Opelka reached the semi-finals at the Italian Open last May, the 23-year-old has been consistently improving his game, armored by a powerful serve and forehands.
Furthermore, he advanced to this second grand slam third-round match at the Frech Open, and now, he has achieved the last four stages at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the second time in his career.
The third set got tied at 3-3, with the two-time ATP titlist recording a smashing serve and volley point to save breakpoint in the fifth game.
He would go on to break his adversary serve and take the lead at 4-3, building a rock-solid 6-4 victory from there.
In his on-court interview, Opelka commented: “I played great. These courts suit my game.”
Adding: “Stefanos has definitely improved his returning. Come 5-5 in the first set, a lot of balls started to come back. He is a thinker and has a high tennis IQ, so it was expected, but that is what separates him from the rest of the pack.”
He now advances to the championship match, having earned his first Top 5 win.
The 2020 Delray Beach Open champion hit 17 aces, 46 winners, winning 77 percent (62/81) of his first-service points, displaying high-quality tennis all week.
Throughout his campaign in Toronto, he moved past Nick Kyrgios - winning a deciding set for the first time in 2021, 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, and Tsitsipas.
On the other hand, Greece’s number one racquet beat Ugo Humbert, Silver medalist in Tokyo 2020 Karen Khachanov, and sixth seed Casper Ruud.
Opelka awaits to meet either top seed Daniil Medvedev or fellow countryman John Isner, Sunday.
In that regard, he said: “Both Medvedev and Isner are big servers. It is going to come down to a couple of points, I think. It will be a similar match to this one”
In the ATP Head2Head series, the Russian player won three meetings of four with Opelka, while Isner lost three of four encounters against his countryman.