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 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 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.
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.
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]
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]
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