Has Craig Boynton made Reilly Opelka's serve even better? Jack Draper found out in Miami...

Match Report

Has Boynton made Opelka's serve even better? Draper found out in Miami...

Quinn beats Ruud, Paul advances

ATP Tour/Getty Images

Craig Boynton and Reilly Opelka have been working together since January. By Sam Jacot

Surely Reilly Opelka’s serve, already one of the most feared weapons in tennis, couldn’t get much better. Yet this season, the American believes it has reached a new level, crediting his new coach, Craig Boynton, who has previously worked with two of the game’s best servers, John Isner and Hubert Hurkacz, for the improvement.

Opelka hit the second-most aces on Tour in 2025, behind only Taylor Fritz, according to Infosys ATP Stats. He unleashed 790 unreturnable deliveries in 49 matches, averaging 16.1 aces per match. In 2026, the American has already fired 254 aces in just 10 matches, raising his average to 25.4 per match.

Opelka joined forces with Boynton in January and heaped praise on the American coach following his second-round victory against British lefty Jack Draper on Friday at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

"We have made a few technical changes. We’ve been working on my return, believe it or not. The stats don’t show in terms of breaking, but if you look at my stats with balls in play, there are a lot of positive things happening,” Opelka said after beating Draper 7-6(3), 7-6(0).

“I am serving really well. I am serving the best I have served. I am really happy with my motion and technique. We are still early on, but I could not have picked a better coach.”

Opelka struck 27 aces against Nuno Borges in his first-round match in Miami and then 25 aces against Draper, who was competing in just his third ATP Tour event back after a left arm injury. The 28-year-old American is now one win from advancing to the fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time since Indian Wells in 2022 and will next meet countryman Taylor Fritz or Botic van de Zandschulp.

In other action on Friday in Miami, Ethan Quinn maintained his impressive run of form with a 6-4, 7-6(7) victory against 11th seed Casper Ruud. Quinn won the title at the ATP Challenger event in Phoenix last week and defeated Hubert Hurkacz in the first round in Miami. He saved seven set points in the second set against Ruud and will play Jiri Lehecka or #NextGenATP Frenchman Moise Kouame in the third round.

Click here to read article