Nick Kyrgios could have stayed undefeated during the clay-court part of the 2022 season, but he lost to Reilly Opelka in the semifinals of the 2022 Houston Open.
After Nick Kyrgios decided to play on the clay after 3 years, the expectations were not high, however, the Aussie showed that he's a very solid clay-court player and reached the semifinals of the 2022 Houston Open, where he met Reilly Opelka.
After previously defeating 2 Americans, the Australian had no need to fear the crowd that would be supporting the home player, and even though Opelka is a Top 20 member, Kyrgios was favored to win the match.
The match that saw players hit a total of 19 aces and zero double faults was much shorter than many might have expected. It lasted only an hour and 11 minutes and was going to only one side from the very beginning.
Opelka started very strong on his service when he lost only one out of the first nine points. On the other hand, Kyrgios had already his second service game taken, and with the tall American serving well as always, it was difficult to change the outcome of the set as Opelka prevailed 6-3.
In the second set, Kyrgios offered his opponent another four breakpoint opportunities in the first seven games. While he managed to fight off the first two in the fifth game, he couldn't do the same in the seventh and was quickly a set and a break down.
Kyrgios then managed to take his service back in the very next game, but his lead would last very shortly as he lost service in the 11th game again and went on to lose the match 3-6, 5-7. Reilly Opelka will therefore, play the final in Houston against the winner of the match between John Isner from the United States and Cristian Garin from Chile.