Reilly_Opelka
Reilly Opelka
American former tennis player
Reilly Opelka (born August 28, 1997) is an American former professional tennis player. At 6 feet 11 inches tall, he is tied (with Ivo Karlović) for the tallest-ever ATP-ranked player, and can produce serves that measure over 140 mph.[3] He has been ranked as high as world No. 17 in singles by the ATP, which he achieved on February 28, 2022, and in doubles as world No. 89 on August 2, 2021. He has won four ATP singles titles and one doubles title. He is a junior Wimbledon champion.
Opelka at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships | |
| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Delray Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Born | (1997-08-28) August 28, 1997 (age 26) St. Joseph, Michigan, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
| Turned pro | 2015 |
| Retired | 2024 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Coach | Jay Berger Jean-Yves Aubone |
| Prize money | US$4,224,870[1] |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 89–84 (51.4% in ATP World Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 4 |
| Highest ranking | No. 17 (February 28, 2022)[2] |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 3R (2022) |
| French Open | 3R (2021) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (2019) |
| US Open | 4R (2021) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 21–23 (47.7%) |
| Career titles | 1 |
| Highest ranking | No. 89 (August 2, 2021) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| French Open | 1R (2019) |
| US Open | 2R (2017) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | RR (2019, 2021) |
| Last updated on: August 7, 2023. | |
Opelka was born in St. Joseph, Michigan and moved to Palm Coast, Florida at age 4. He didn't start playing tennis regularly until he began training through USTA in Boca Raton at 12 years old.[4] He credits Tom Gullikson, whom his father knew from playing golf, for much of his early development as a tennis player.[4][5] Opelka is close friends with Taylor Fritz and was the best man at Fritz's wedding.[6] His uncle is radio talk show host Mike Opelka. Opelka is an avid sportsperson supporting every team that has the word Chicago in it - namely the Chicago Bulls (NBA), the Chicago Bears (NFL) and the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) - and serie A team Lazio.
Opelka won the 2015 Junior Wimbledon tournament, defeating Junior world No. 1 Taylor Fritz en route to beating Mikael Ymer in the final[5][7] and reached the finals of the Boys' Doubles event (with Akira Santillan) at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships.[8]
Early years
Opelka made his ATP debut at the 2016 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, where he lost in the first round to fifth seed Sam Querrey. In August, Opelka won his first three career ATP matches at the Atlanta Open to reach the semifinals at just his third career ATP event. This included a victory over 203 cm player No. 27 Kevin Anderson in which he saved two match points on Anderson's serve. He lost in the semi-finals to top seed John Isner. He continued his momentum with first round wins at the Los Cabos Open and the Cincinnati Masters where he defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky and Jérémy Chardy respectively to move into the top 300 of the ATP rankings. After struggling with a foot injury towards the end of the summer, Opelka returned to the USTA Pro Circuit for the indoor season and won his first ATP Challenger title in Charlottesville to finish the year just outside the top 200.
In 2017, Opelka got off to a good start to the season by qualifying for the Australian Open. He played No. 11 seed David Goffin in the first round and pushed him to five sets before taking the loss. At the Memphis Open, he recorded his only ATP Tour level win of the year over fellow Next Gen American Jared Donaldson.
2018: Breakthrough, top 100 year-end ranking
2018 proved to be a breakthrough year for Opelka. He won three ATP Challenger titles in the season, the first American to do so since Bradley Klahn in 2014.[9] He won his first title of the season at the Bordeaux Challenger in May.[10] In November, he won back to back titles at the Knoxville Challenger[11] and the JSM Challenger.[9] He also finished as a runner-up at Cary Challenger and Oracle Challenger.[12]
On the ATP World Tour, he reached the quarterfinals at the Delray Beach Open, picking up his first top 10 win of his burgeoning career, defeating world No. 8, Jack Sock, in the second round.
His solid performance on the ATP Challenger Tour earned him his first top-100 year-end finish in singles, ending the season at world No. 99.
2019: First ATP title, top 50 debut
At the Australian Open, Opelka upset compatriot and ninth seed John Isner in the first round. This was the second top 10 win of his career.[13] In February, Opelka again defeated Isner, saving six match points, en route to his first ATP title at the New York Open. At Wimbledon in July, he achieved his best Grand Slam result to date, reaching the tournament's third round and defeating Stan Wawrinka in the process. Over the summer and fall, he reached the semifinals of tournaments in Atlanta, Tokyo, and Basel. In November, he participated in the Davis Cup Finals for the United States, ultimately losing both his rubbers. He finished the season ranked 36th in the world.
2020: Second ATP title, Masters 1000 quarterfinal
In February, Opelka lifted his second career trophy at the Delray Beach Open after saving a match point in the semifinals against Milos Raonic. After an extended break due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, play resumed and Opelka reached his first ATP Tour Masters level quarterfinal at the Cincinnati Masters. En route he earned his fifth career top 10 win, defeating Matteo Berrettini.[14]
2021: US Open fourth round, Masters 1000 final, top 20 debut
Opelka chose not to defend his Delray Beach title. He instead began the season at the Great Ocean Road Open as the sixth seed, but lost to Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round. At the Australian Open, he beat Lu Yen-hsun before losing to 27th seed Taylor Fritz, despite holding match points in the fourth set.
In Rome, Opelka beat Richard Gasquet, Lorenzo Musetti, Aslan Karatsev and Federico Delbonis to reach his first Masters semifinal, where he lost to Rafael Nadal.[15]
Seeded 32nd at the French Open, Opelka beat clay-court specialists Andrej Martin and Jaume Munar to reach the third round, his best showing at this Grand Slam event, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev.[16]
Partnering Jannik Sinner, he won his first doubles title at the Atlanta Open defeating Steve Johnson and Jordan Thompson.[17] As a result, he entered the top 100 in doubles at No. 89 on August 2, 2021. At the same tournament in singles he fell in the quarterfinals to Taylor Fritz.[18]
At the Canada Masters in Toronto, he reached his second Masters 1000 semifinal by defeating Nick Kyrgios,[19] 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, Lloyd Harris and 10th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.[20] He then upset 3rd seed and world No. 3, Stefanos Tsitsipas, to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final. It was also his first win over a top 5 player.[21] Opelka would lose to 1st seed and world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the final.[22] With this successful run, he entered the top 25 in the ATP singles rankings for the first time at world No. 23 on August 16, 2021.[23]
At the US Open, Opelka reached the fourth round of a Major for the first time in his career. There, he lost to Lloyd Harris in four sets.[24] From this run, he cracked the top 20 in the ATP singles rankings for the first time at world No. 19 on September 13, 2021.[25]
2022: Third and Fourth ATP titles, hiatus
At the 2022 Australian Open, Opelka reached the third round, where he lost to Denis Shapovalov.[26]
At the inaugural edition of the Dallas Open, Opelka won his third singles title after defeating Jenson Brooksby.[27] In the semifinals, he defeated fellow American John Isner 7–6(9–7), 7–6(24–22). The 46-point tiebreak in the second set was the longest-ever at the ATP Tour level.[28] At the 2022 Delray Beach Open, Opelka reached his second final in as many weeks, losing to Cameron Norrie.[29] As a result, he reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 18 on February 21, 2022, and world No. 17 a week later. At the 2022 BNP Paribas Open he reached the fourth round for the first time in his career at this Masters where he lost to fourth seed Rafael Nadal.[30]
At the 2022 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Opelka won his second title of the year and fourth of his career, defeating compatriot John Isner in what was the tallest ATP Tour final in the Open Era.[31]
At the 2022 Mutua Madrid Open, Opelka lost to Sebastian Korda, at the 2022 Italian Open to Stan Wawrinka, and at the 2022 French Open to Filip Krajinović with all losses being in the first round.
2023-24: Comeback
Opelka returned to the tour at the 2023 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger in October after more than a year of hiatus.
2024: Retirement
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
Singles
Current through the 2022 Citi Open.
| Tournament | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | SR | W–L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | 1R | Q1 | 2R | 1R | 2R | 3R | A | 0 / 5 | 4–5 | 44% |
| French Open | A | A | Q3 | Q2 | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | 33% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | Q1 | Q2 | 3R | NH | 1R | 2R | A | 0 / 3 | 3–3 | 50% |
| US Open | Q2 | Q2 | Q2 | Q1 | 2R | 1R | 4R | A | A | 0 / 3 | 4–3 | 57% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–4 | 0–3 | 6–4 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 0 / 15 | 13–15 | 46% |
| National representation | ||||||||||||
| Davis Cup | A | A | A | A | RR | RR[lower-alpha 1] | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–3 | 25% | |
| ATP Masters 1000 | ||||||||||||
| Indian Wells Open | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | NH | 3R | 4R | A | 0 / 5 | 3–5 | 38% |
| Miami Open | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | 3R | NH | 2R | 2R | A | 0 / 3 | 2–3 | 40% |
| Monte-Carlo Masters | A | A | A | A | A | NH | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Madrid Open | A | A | A | A | 2R | NH | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 3 | 1–3 | 25% |
| Italian Open | A | A | A | A | Q2 | A | SF | 1R | A | 0 / 2 | 4–2 | 67% |
| Canadian Open | A | A | 1R | A | A | NH | F | A | A | 0 / 2 | 5–2 | 71% |
| Cincinnati Open | A | 2R | Q1 | A | 2R | QF | 2R | A | A | 0 / 4 | 6–4 | 60% |
| Shanghai Masters | A | A | A | A | 2R | NH | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% | ||
| Paris Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 5–5 | 3–1 | 12–7 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 0 / 21 | 23–21 | 52% |
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||
| Tournaments | 0 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 22 | 9 | 21 | 17 | 0 | Career total: 83 | ||
| Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Career total: 4 | ||
| Finals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | Career total: 6 | ||
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 5–5 | 1–8 | 2–2 | 27–23 | 12–8 | 21–23 | 21–15 | 0–0 | 4 / 83 | 89–84 | 51% |
| Win % | – | 50% | 11% | 50% | 54% | 60% | 48% | 58% | – | Career total: 51% | ||
| Year-end ranking | 981 | 204 | 229 | 99 | 36 | 39 | 26 | 38 | 1146 | $4,226,170 | ||
Masters 1000 finals
Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2021 | Canadian Open | Hard |  Daniil Medvedev |
4–6, 3–6 |
Singles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)
|
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Feb 2019 | New York Open, United States | 250 Series | Hard (i) |  Brayden Schnur |
6–1, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(9–7) |
| Win | 2–0 | Feb 2020 | Delray Beach Open, United States | 250 Series | Hard |  Yoshihito Nishioka |
7–5, 6–7(4–7), 6–2 |
| Loss | 2–1 | Aug 2021 | Canadian Open, Canada | Masters 1000 | Hard | Daniil Medvedev |
4–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 3–1 | Feb 2022 | Dallas Open, United States | 250 Series | Hard (i) |  Jenson Brooksby |
7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–3) |
| Loss | 3–2 | Feb 2022 | Delray Beach Open, United States | 250 Series | Hard |  Cameron Norrie |
6–7(1–7), 6–7(4–7) |
| Win | 4–2 | Apr 2022 | U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, United States | 250 Series | Clay | John Isner |
6–3, 7–6(9–7) |
Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)
|
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Oct 2019 | Swiss Indoors, Switzerland | 500 Series | Hard (i) | Taylor Fritz |
 Jean-Julien Rojer Horia Tecău |
5–7, 3–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Feb 2020 | New York Open, United States | 250 Series | Hard (i) | Steve Johnson |
Dominic Inglot Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi |
6–7(5–7), 6–7(6–8) |
| Loss | 0–3 | Jun 2021 | Queen's Club Championships, United Kingdom | 500 Series | Grass |  John Peers |
 Pierre-Hugues Herbert Nicolas Mahut |
4–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 1–3 | Jul 2021 | Atlanta Open, United States | 250 Series | Hard |  Jannik Sinner |
Steve Johnson Jordan Thompson |
6–4, 6–7(6–8), [10–3] |
Singles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)
| Legend |
|---|
| ATP Challenger (4–2) |
| ITF Futures (0–0) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Nov 2016 | Charlottesville, United States | Challenger | Hard (i) |  Ruben Bemelmans |
6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–5) |
| Win | 2–0 | May 2018 | Bordeaux, France | Challenger | Clay | Grégoire Barrère |
6–7(5–7), 6–4, 7–5 |
| Loss | 2–1 | Sep 2018 | Chicago, United States | Challenger | Hard |  Denis Istomin |
4–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Sep 2018 | Cary, United States | Challenger | Hard | James Duckworth |
6–7(4–7), 3–6 |
| Win | 3–2 | Nov 2018 | Knoxville, United States | Challenger | Hard (i) | Bjorn Fratangelo |
7–5, 4–6, 7–6(7–2) |
| Win | 4–2 | Nov 2018 | Champaign, United States | Challenger | Hard (i) | Ryan Shane |
7–6(8–6), 6–3 |
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
| Legend |
|---|
| ATP Challenger (0–0) |
| ITF Futures (0–1) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 2014 | USA F24, Claremont | Futures | Hard | Deiton Baughman |
Jeff Dadamo Dennis Nevolo |
2–5 ret. |
Boys' singles: 1 (1 title)
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 2015 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Mikael Ymer |
7–6(7–5), 6–4 |
Boys' doubles: 1 (1 runner–ups)
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2015 | Wimbledon | Grass | Akira Santillan |
 Sumit Nagal  Lý Hoàng Nam |
6–7(4–7), 4–6 |
- Opelka has a 7–12 (36.8%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
| Season | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| # | Player | Rank | Event | Surface | Rd | Score | ROR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | |||||||
| 1. | Jack Sock |
8 | Delray Beach Open, United States | Hard | 2R | 4–6, 7–5, 6–3 | 228 |
| 2019 | |||||||
| 2. | John Isner |
10 | Australian Open, Australia | Hard | 1R | 7–6(7–4), 7–6(8–6), 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–5) | 97 |
| 3. | John Isner |
9 | New York Open, United States | Hard (i) | SF | 6–7(8–10), 7–6(16–14), 7–6(7–4) | 89 |
| 4. |  Roberto Bautista Agut |
10 | Swiss Indoors, Switzerland | Hard (i) | QF | 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 | 37 |
| 2020 | |||||||
| 5. | Matteo Berrettini |
8 | Cincinnati Open, United States | Hard | 3R | 6–3, 7–6(7–4) | 39 |
| 6. | Daniil Medvedev |
6 | St. Petersburg Open, Russia | Hard (i) | 2R | 2–6, 7–5, 6–4 | 36 |
| 2021 | |||||||
| 7. |  Stefanos Tsitsipas |
3 | Canadian Open, Canada | Hard | SF | 6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–4), 6–4 | 32 |
- * As of 20 May 2022[update].
- "ATP Prize Money Leaders" (PDF).
- "Reilly Opelka may be the next big thing (literally) in US men's tennis". Boston Globe. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- Boyle, Chris (July 10, 2015). "Palm Coast's Reilly Opelka defeats world's No. 1 junior, reaches Wimbledon final". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
- "Forget a tennis rivalry, these two rising stars are best friends". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- Camber, Simon (July 12, 2015). "Reilly Opelka's big triumph hints at better days for American tennis". The Guardian. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
- "Sumit Nagal Wins Junior Boys' Doubles Wimbledon Title". NDTV Sports. July 12, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
- "Opelka With Back-To-Back Titles Win In Champaign". November 18, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- "AMERICAN REILLY OPELKA STANDS TALL GOING INTO THE 2019 SEASON". tennis.com. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- "USTA Pro Circuit Wrap-Up: Florida's Opelka Wins Knoxville, Mejia in Niceville". November 14, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- "THE NEXT WAVE OF AMERICAN MEN STILL WORKING ON BREAKTHROUGHS". tennis.com. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- Streeter, Kurt (January 14, 2019). "Against John Isner, Reilly Opelka Stands Taller". The New York Times. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- "Reilly Opelka Tops Matteo Berrettini To Reach First Masters 1000 Quarter-final | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "'It's probably a fluke' - Reilly Opelka reaches Rome semi-finals". tennishead.net. May 14, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "French Open 2021: Medvedev cuts Opelka down to size to reach fourth round". Hindustan Times. June 5, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "Reilly Opelka & Jannik Sinner Make Perfect Team Debut In Atlanta | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "Taylor Fritz Wins Reilly Opelka Epic To Reach Atlanta SFs | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "kyrgios-opelka-toronto-2021-tuesday | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "Opelka Storms Into Toronto SFs | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "Opelka Reaches Maiden Masters 1000 Final, Beats Tsitsipas In Toronto Epic | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "Daniil Medvedev Clinches Fourth Masters 1000 Title, Battles Past Reilly Opelka In Toronto | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "Reilly Opelka Up To Career-High No. 22, Mover Of Week | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "Lloyd Harris Earns Reilly Opelka Revenge At US Open | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "Reilly Opelka Makes a Massive Rankings Jump Following US Open 2021 Success". Essentiallysports.com. September 2, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- "Shapovalov beats Opelka, advances to fourth round at Australian Open". Sportsnet. February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- "Opelka Stands Tall, Sinks Brooksby For Dallas Title". ATP Tour. February 14, 2022.
- "Opelka Wins Historic Tie-Break To Beat Isner in Dallas". ATP Tour. February 12, 2022.
- "Norrie Nullifies Opelka Power To Claim Delray Title". ATP Tour. February 20, 2022.
- "Opelka Beats Isner In 'Battle Of The Bots' For Houston Title". ATP Tour. April 10, 2022.
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