After spending most of the last two seasons on the sidelines, due to his wrist and hip injuries, Reilly Opelka stunned everyone by defeating the 24-time Grand Slam champion, Novak Djokovic, in the QF of the 2025 Brisbane International. His key to success in that match was hitting 16 aces against the Serb and committing just 1 double fault in the entire match. Overall, in his five matches in Brisbane, the American hit 62 aces! Although he reached the final, Opelka’s journey came to an abrupt ending following his walkover in the final against Jiri Lehecka. However, despite that loss, his biggest earning from the tournament was getting praised by his “idol,” Novak Djokovic. After the QF match, Djokovic hailed the brilliance from the 6ft 11 inches tall lad by saying, “Amazing tennis, Reilly. Absolutely deserved. Good luck.” Following that, Opelka’s next big result came at the Dallas Open and the Challenger AIX-EN-Provence, FR, before making it to the SF at the Libema Open recently. His recent victory against the former world number one, Daniil Medvedev, in ‘s-Hertogenbosch has now yet again made him the talk of the town!
Really, Reilly? The 27-year-old American tennis star took just 1 hour and 36 minutes to beat Daniil Medvedev by 7-6(5),7-6(5) in this epic QF clash. But what’s interesting was that Opelka had fired 24 aces in 12 service games and didn’t commit a single double fault in the entire match. First Serves in? 72%!
What does Opelka have to say about the secret behind these staggering numbers? “It’s been a good serving week, especially today. When it’s hot like this, the court starts to bounce a lot more and react more to the different spins on my serve. Medvedev has been one of the best players in the world the past five years, so to get through him is a great win.“ With this win, he has now taken his H2H record to 2-4 against the Russian.
Daniil Medvedev had hit seven aces in this match, but he committed five double faults. Speaking more on that, Reilly Oplka said, “His double faults at the end were because of my serve. The pressure that I put on him after serving so well and consistently is what caused the three double faults at the end of the tie-break.” After having lost to the Estonian Mark Lajal in his second qualifier match, Opelka is the second lucky loser to advance to the ‘s-Hertogenbosch SF after Rinky Hijikata in 2023. Next up for him is Belgium’s Zizou Bergs. Opelka trails the Belgian by 0-1. Can he make it to the second final of this season? Time will tell! But his comeback story has truly been praiseworthy.
“I thought about retiring” – Taking a look back at Reilly Opelka’s incredible journey
From dealing with a benign tumor that had slipped into the joint to battling a tendon issue in his right wrist, frequent injuries had almost derailed Reilly Opelka’s bright future. Talking about his future, in 2018, American legend Andre Agassi had in fact hailed him and Frances Tiafoe as two of the next big things in American tennis. “You look at something you can’t teach like Reilly Opelka who is seven feet tall you know – it’s slim pickings when you talk about the best in the world and you better bring something that’s very unique and you’re competing against the world so this is probably one of the most optimistic generations that I think we have a look now at possibly having somebody sneak through,” said Agassi at that time.
Did he deliver to those expectations? Well, that’s debatable! But his incredible comeback has earned praise from several tennis legends.
His lethal serves have always been the talk of the town in the tennis world. For example, in 2021, Serena Williams’ childhood coach, Rick Macci, claimed, “Love Reilly Opelka interview. worked with him at the usta when it was in boca raton florida.told everybody then when he was 14 he was going to be special, because of the serve. we worked many times on stepping on the nail, to drive the legs up! can’t teach 7 feet and athletic!” Even his peers, including Jakub Mensik, named him along with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Taylor Fritz as the lethal servers on the Tour.
Despite all these praises, his future was put under some serious question marks during his time off the court. Recalling those moments in a previous interview (after his return to the Tour), Reilly Opelka revealed, “Just being out there, that’s the best part. There was a moment when I wasn’t sure if that would happen again. Of course, I thought about retiring. I was ready to let it go; I’ve always been very aware of everything that happened to me. I think I’m good at bringing out the best in me in certain situations, but in this case, I was totally ready to end it.”
That was the time when he saw his friends, including Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, and Ben Shelton, doing wonders on the Tour. So, despite a few question marks about his own career, this is what kept him motivated in that entire phase. Although his primary goal as of now is to keep himself fit and healthy, do you think he has a good chance of winning a title at the 2025 Libema Open?
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