Opelka passes up three match points in Adelaide exit

It was not a good day to be an American seed at the Adelaide International, but Pablo Cuevas was among the beneficiaries.

Reilly Opelka squandered three match points to join fellow American seed Taylor Fritz in suffering a first-round exit at the inaugural Adelaide International.

Eighth seed Opelka took the first set against Pablo Cuevas and passed up three opportunities in a second-set tie-break before succumbing to a 5-7, 7-6 (11-9), 7-6 (7-2) defeat.

Fritz, seeded fifth, slipped to a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) loss to Alexander Bublik, who now owns a 2-0 lead in their head-to-head record having also triumphed in Chengdu last year.

In the day’s other match, Laslo Djere needed three sets to defeat Alexei Popyrin.