Opelka, playing as a wild card in his first tournament in nearly two years, became the lowest-seeded player to reach the semifinals in the ATP era when he dropped to world No. 1188 after recovering from hip and wrist surgeries.
“Let’s put it this way, these guys don’t want to lose to a guy who hasn’t played in two years,” Opelka said.
“I’m playing with house money. It allows me to be a little more free and there’s extra nerves on the other side of the net.”
Opelka, who last played in Washington in 2022 when he was ranked 17th in the world, but admitted he has some rust to shake off before a coveted appearance at the US Open in August.
“But that’s why I’m here. I’m here to try to shake off some of that rust — I think it’s better to do it here and get it out of the way than maybe (at) the US Open.”
Third-seeded Michelsen (19) is in the semifinals for the second year in a row thanks to a 6-4, 6-4 victory over fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic.
In second place last year, Mannarina withstood 12 aces from Kovacevic and saved the only break he faced.
In a match carried over from Wednesday, second seed Marcos Giron rallied from 0-3 down in the third set to beat France’s Benoit Paire 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
Paire led 6-4, 1-0 when darkness halted play Wednesday night.
After sinking the second set, 46th Giron quickly struggled in the third. But he took full advantage of Paire’s errors, including nine double faults, to book a quarter-final meeting with Australian qualifier Alex Bolt.
Opelka powers into Newport ATP semi-finals
