Jack Draper blown away in straight sets by US star Reilly Opelka at Miami Open | Tennis

Jack Draper suffered a tough defeat in his opening match at the Miami Open as he could do little to neutralize a dominant serving performance from Reilly Opelka, who hit 25 aces in straight sets en route to a 7-6(3), 7-6(0) victory.

The loss is a difficult setback for Draper, the 25th seed, as he continues to navigate the early stages of his return to competition after a bone injury that forced him off the tour for seven months. Miami is only the third ATP tournament of his return.

While some tall servers view the phrase as derogatory, detracting from the other qualities of his game, the 6-foot-11 Opelka proudly describes himself as a server. This performance was a demonstration of his destructive serve and his ability to completely remove his racket from his opponents’ hands. Draper didn’t face a break point the entire match, but he just couldn’t handle Opelka’s serve.

“I didn’t have a lot of chances, especially on his serve,” Draper said. “I wasn’t broken during the match, so that was kind of my job, wasn’t it? And I guess I’m still at the very beginning of my return from a very difficult injury to deal with. And if someone had said I’m going to play in Dubai, Indian Wells, here, and go home feeling good, then I would have accepted that, because it’s a long season.”

Patience was an important quality for Katie Boulter, who continued her impressive return to form by reaching the third round after 17th seed Clara Tauson was forced to retire due to injury with Boulter leading 6-7(4), 6-4, 1-0.

Boulter, who fell out of the top 100 after a difficult season last year, bounced back with a brilliant title run at the WTA 250 in Ostrava last month and now sits at 63rd in the live rankings. She awaits Karolina Muchova, the 13th seed, who beat Camila Osorio 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

“In December and January we worked very, very hard, but you never really expect it to kick off right away,” Boulter said. “I told myself that I had to be patient and be ready to fight for several months and then find the best of myself. So it came quite quickly. But at the same time, I know that there is a long road to go. And this is only the beginning for me.”