Reilly Opelka blasted 43 aces on the way to winning his first ATP Tour title with a 6-1, 6-7(7), 7-6(7) victory over Canadian Brayden Schnur at the New York Open Sunday. The 21-year-old American paved the way for the victory by successfully challenging what Schnur thought was an ace at 7-7 in the final tiebreak. Schnur's shot was shown to be just out, so instead of having championship point the Canadian had a second serve, which he netted. Opelka then slammed in his 43rd ace of the match for the victory. He had the same number of aces in beating top seed John Isner in their semifinal Saturday. "This is definitely what I'm most proud of," Opelka told reporters. "I was tough mentally, especially losing a lot of first sets this week, and my first serve really helped me out. I was able to play clutch in those big moments." Opelka easily won the opening set against Schnur but the Canadian rebounded in the second by saving two championship points in a tiebreak and claiming the set when Opelka double faulted. Schnur had never won an ATP Tour main draw match before this week, and won two qualifying matches just to get into the tournament. "It's a dream come true for me. This week showed that I belong in these big tournaments and playing against the top guys," Schnur said. "It's unfortunate the way it ended because I left it all out there and did everything I could, but that's how sports go sometimes." Wawrinka returns to top 50 Stan Wawrinka returned to the world's top 50 Monday for the first time since last year's French Open after his run to the final in Rotterdam. The three-time Grand Slam champion is on the road back to his best after serious knee injuries and reached his first final last week since losing to Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros in 2017. The 33-year-old Swiss was beaten in three sets by Gael Monfils, though, with the Frenchman climbing 10 spots to 23rd. Wawrinka sits 41st in the rankings after a rise of 27 places. Top 10: 1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 10,955 pts, 2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 8,320, 3. Alexander Zverev (GER) 6,475, 4. Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) 5,060, 5. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 4,595, 6. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4,190 (+1), 7. Roger Federer (SUI) 4,100 (-1), 8. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3,800, 9. John Isner (USA) 3,225, 10. Marin Cilic (CRO) 3,140. Halep returns to second Simona Halep reclaimed second place in the WTA rankings on Monday after her run to the Qatar Open final, while Doha champion Elise Mertens climbed back into the top 20. Halep moved up a spot as Australian Open runner-up Petra Kvitova dropped two places to fourth, with Sloane Stephens matching her career-best of third despite not playing since losing in the last 16 in Melbourne. Naomi Osaka remains top of the standings, while Serena Williams returned to the top 10 for the first time since July 2017. Mertens rose to 16th after the Belgian rallied from a set down to beat Halep 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Sunday to claim the biggest title of her career. WTA top 10: 1. Naomi Osaka (JPN) 6,970 pts, 2. Simona Halep (ROU) 5,537 (+1), 3. Sloane Stephens (USA) 5,307 (+1), 4. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 5,120 (-2), 5. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5,055, 6. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 5,020 (+1), 7. Angelique Kerber (GER) 4,960 (-1), 8. Kiki Bertens (NED) 4,885, 9. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 3,565, 10. Serena Williams (USA) 3,406 (+1). — Agencies
