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Reilly Opelka

Reilly Opelka
Opelka in 2024
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceDelray Beach, Florida, U.S.
Born (1997-08-28) August 28, 1997 (age 27)
St. Joseph, Michigan, U.S.
Height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Turned pro2015
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachJay Berger
Friedrich Kunath
Prize moneyUS $4,462,345[1]
Singles
Career record96–92
Career titles4
Highest rankingNo. 17 (February 28, 2022)[2]
Current rankingNo. 298 (November 11, 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open3R (2022)
French Open3R (2021)
Wimbledon3R (2019)
US Open4R (2021)
Doubles
Career record21–23
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 89 (August 2, 2021)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open1R (2019)
US Open2R (2017)
Team competitions
Davis CupQF (2024)
Last updated on: November 16, 2024.

Reilly Opelka (born August 28, 1997) is an American 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.

Personal life

Opelka was born in St. Joseph, Michigan and moved to Palm Coast, Florida at age 4. He did not 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 supporter of Chicago sports teams, namely the Chicago Bulls (NBA), the Chicago Bears (NFL) and the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL), as well as the serie A team Lazio.

Junior career

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]

Professional career

Early years

Opelka at the 2016 Citi Open.

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 Indian Wells 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 Madrid Open Opelka lost to Sebastian Korda. The Italian Open saw a defeat to Stan Wawrinka, and at the 2022 French Open to Filip Krajinović, with all losses being in the first round.

2023-24: Comeback, back to top 325

At the end of October 2023, Opelka returned to the ATP Challenger Tour at the 2023 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger after close to a year and a half of hiatus, defeating Tennys Sandgren in straight sets in the first round. However, he retired in the second round.

After another 8 months hiatus, he returned in mid July 2024 to the ATP Tour with a wildcard main draw entry into the 2024 Hall of Fame Open and defeated Constant Lestienne in three sets in the opening round to secure his first victory at that level for two years.[32] Opelka continued his comeback with a victory over top seed Adrian Mannarino in round two.[33] In the quarterfinals he defeated Mackenzie McDonald in three sets to become the lowest ranked player in history to make an ATP level semifinal[34][35] where his run came to an end against Alex Michelsen.[36] As a result he moved more than 750 positions up into the top 430 on 22 July 2024.

Ranked No. 371, he received main draw wildcards for the Washington Open where he reached the second round, and for the Cincinnati Open.

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

Current through the 2024 Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 1R Q1 2R 1R 2R 3R A A 0 / 5 4–5 44%
French Open A A Q3 Q2 1R 1R 3R 1R A A 0 / 4 2–4 33%
Wimbledon A A Q1 Q2 3R NH 1R 2R A A 0 / 3 3–3 50%
US Open Q2 Q2 Q2 Q1 2R 1R 4R A A 1R 0 / 4 4–4 50%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 4–4 0–3 6–4 3–3 0–0 0–1 0 / 16 13–16 45%
ATP Masters 1000
Indian Wells Open A A 1R 1R 1R NH 3R 4R A A 0 / 5 3–5 38%
Miami Open A A Q2 Q1 3R NH 2R 2R A A 0 / 3 2–3 40%
Monte-Carlo Masters A A A A A NH A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Madrid Open A A A A 2R NH 1R 1R A A 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Italian Open A A A A Q2 A SF 1R A A 0 / 2 4–2 67%
Canadian Open A A 1R A A NH F A A A 0 / 2 5–2 71%
Cincinnati Open A 2R Q1 A 2R QF 2R A A 1R 0 / 5 6–5 55%
Shanghai Masters A A A A 2R NH A 1R 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Paris Masters A A A A A A 2R A 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 0–2 0 / 23 23–23 50%
Career statistics
Tournaments 0 5 8 2 22 9 21 17 0 8 Career total: 91
Titles 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 Career total: 4
Finals 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 0 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 7–8 4 / 91 96–92 51%
Win %  –  50% 11% 50% 54% 60% 48% 58%  –  47% Career total: 51%
Year-end ranking 981 204 229 99 36 39 26 38 1146 $4,226,170

Significant finals

Masters 1000 tournaments

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 2021 Canadian Open Hard Russia Daniil Medvedev 4–6, 3–6

ATP Tour finals

Singles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP Masters 1000 (0–1)
ATP 500 (0–0)
ATP 250 (4–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–2)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (2–2)
Indoor (2–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Feb 2019 New York Open, United States ATP 250 Hard (i) Canada Brayden Schnur 6–1, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(9–7)
Win 2–0 Feb 2020 Delray Beach Open, United States ATP 250 Hard Japan Yoshihito Nishioka 7–5, 6–7(4–7), 6–2
Loss 2–1 Aug 2021 Canadian Open, Canada Masters 1000 Hard Russia Daniil Medvedev 4–6, 3–6
Win 3–1 Feb 2022 Dallas Open, United States ATP 250 Hard (i) United States Jenson Brooksby 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–3)
Loss 3–2 Feb 2022 Delray Beach Open, United States ATP 250 Hard United Kingdom Cameron Norrie 6–7(1–7), 6–7(4–7)
Win 4–2 Apr 2022 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, United States ATP 250 Clay United States John Isner 6–3, 7–6(9–7)

Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP 500 (0–2)
ATP 250 (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–1)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (1–1)
Indoor (0–2)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Oct 2019 Swiss Indoors, Switzerland ATP 500 Hard (i) United States Taylor Fritz Netherlands Jean-Julien Rojer
Romania Horia Tecău 		5–7, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Feb 2020 New York Open, United States ATP 250 Hard (i) United States Steve Johnson United Kingdom Dominic Inglot
Pakistan Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi 		6–7(5–7), 6–7(6–8)
Loss 0–3 Jun 2021 Queen's Club Championships, United Kingdom ATP 500 Grass Australia John Peers France Pierre-Hugues Herbert
France Nicolas Mahut 		4–6, 5–7
Win 1–3 Jul 2021 Atlanta Open, United States ATP 250 Hard Italy Jannik Sinner United States Steve Johnson
Australia Jordan Thompson 		6–4, 6–7(6–8), [10–3]

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (4–2)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–2)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Nov 2016 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger, USA Challenger Hard (i) Belgium Ruben Bemelmans 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–5)
Win 2–0 May 2018 BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux, France Challenger Clay France Grégoire Barrère 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 7–5
Loss 2–1 Sep 2018 Oracle Challenger Series – Chicago, USA Challenger Hard Uzbekistan Denis Istomin 4–6, 2–6
Loss 2–2 Sep 2018 Cary Challenger, USA Challenger Hard Australia James Duckworth 6–7(4–7), 3–6
Win 3–2 Nov 2018 Knoxville Challenger, USA Challenger Hard (i) United States Bjorn Fratangelo 7–5, 4–6, 7–6(7–2)
Win 4–2 Nov 2018 Champaign–Urbana Challenger, USA Challenger Hard (i) United States Ryan Shane 7–6(8–6), 6–3

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)
ITF Futures (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 2014 USA F24, Claremont Futures Hard United States Deiton Baughman United States Dennis Nevolo
United States Jeff Dadamo 		2–5 ret.

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 2015 Wimbledon Grass Sweden Mikael Ymer 7–6(7–5), 6–4

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2015 Wimbledon Grass Japan Akira Santillan India Sumit Nagal
Vietnam Lý Hoàng Nam 		6–7(4–7), 4–6

Wins over top 10 players

  • Opelka has a 7–12 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. United States Jack Sock 8 Delray Beach Open, United States Hard 2R 4–6, 7–5, 6–3 228
2019
2. United States 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. United States 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. Spain Roberto Bautista Agut 10 Swiss Indoors, Switzerland Hard (i) QF 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 37
2020
5. Italy Matteo Berrettini 8 Cincinnati Open, United States Hard 3R 6–3, 7–6(7–4) 39
6. Russia Daniil Medvedev 6 St. Petersburg Open, Russia Hard (i) 2R 2–6, 7–5, 6–4 36
2021
7. Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas 3 Canadian Open, Canada Hard SF 6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–4), 6–4 32
* As of 20 May 2022.

Notes

References

  1. ^ "ATP Prize Money Leaders" (PDF).
  2. ^ "Reilly Opelka | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  3. ^ "A deep dive into Reilly Opelka's serves".
  4. ^ a b "Reilly Opelka may be the next big thing (literally) in US men's tennis". Boston Globe. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  5. ^ a b 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.
  6. ^ "Forget a tennis rivalry, these two rising stars are best friends". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  7. ^ Camber, Simon (July 12, 2015). "Reilly Opelka's big triumph hints at better days for American tennis". The Guardian. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  8. ^ "Sumit Nagal Wins Junior Boys' Doubles Wimbledon Title". NDTV Sports. July 12, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Opelka With Back-To-Back Titles Win In Champaign". November 18, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  10. ^ "AMERICAN REILLY OPELKA STANDS TALL GOING INTO THE 2019 SEASON". tennis.com. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  11. ^ "USTA Pro Circuit Wrap-Up: Florida's Opelka Wins Knoxville, Mejia in Niceville". November 14, 2018. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  12. ^ "THE NEXT WAVE OF AMERICAN MEN STILL WORKING ON BREAKTHROUGHS". tennis.com. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  13. ^ Streeter, Kurt (January 14, 2019). "Against John Isner, Reilly Opelka Stands Taller". The New York Times. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  14. ^ "Reilly Opelka Tops Matteo Berrettini To Reach First Masters 1000 Quarter-final | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  15. ^ "'It's probably a fluke' - Reilly Opelka reaches Rome semi-finals". tennishead.net. May 14, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  16. ^ "French Open 2021: Medvedev cuts Opelka down to size to reach fourth round". Hindustan Times. June 5, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  17. ^ "Reilly Opelka & Jannik Sinner Make Perfect Team Debut In Atlanta | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  18. ^ "Taylor Fritz Wins Reilly Opelka Epic To Reach Atlanta SFs | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  19. ^ "kyrgios-opelka-toronto-2021-tuesday | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  20. ^ "Opelka Storms Into Toronto SFs | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  21. ^ "Opelka Reaches Maiden Masters 1000 Final, Beats Tsitsipas In Toronto Epic | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  22. ^ "Daniil Medvedev Clinches Fourth Masters 1000 Title, Battles Past Reilly Opelka In Toronto | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  23. ^ "Reilly Opelka Up To Career-High No. 22, Mover Of Week | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  24. ^ "Lloyd Harris Earns Reilly Opelka Revenge At US Open | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atptour.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  25. ^ "Reilly Opelka Makes a Massive Rankings Jump Following US Open 2021 Success". Essentiallysports.com. September 2, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  26. ^ "Shapovalov beats Opelka, advances to fourth round at Australian Open". Sportsnet. February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  27. ^ "Opelka Stands Tall, Sinks Brooksby For Dallas Title". ATP Tour. February 14, 2022.
  28. ^ "Opelka Wins Historic Tie-Break To Beat Isner in Dallas". ATP Tour. February 12, 2022.
  29. ^ "Norrie Nullifies Opelka Power To Claim Delray Title". ATP Tour. February 20, 2022.
  30. ^ "Rafael Nadal struck a complicated balance between safety and risk to beat big-serving Reilly Opelka at Indian Wells".
  31. ^ "Opelka Beats Isner In 'Battle Of The Bots' For Houston Title". ATP Tour. April 10, 2022.
  32. ^ "Nearly 2 years on, Opelka makes successful return in Newport". ATPTour.com. July 15, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  33. ^ "Hall of Fame Open: Reilly Opelka advances to last 8". Tennis Majors. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  34. ^ "World No.1188 breaks Del Potro's record with incredible run as rival calls him 'nasty'". Daily Express. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
  35. ^ "Returning Reilly Opelka makes recent ATP history win run to Newport semifinals". Tennis.com. July 19, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  36. ^ "Michelsen ends Opelka's run, returns to Newport final". July 20, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
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