Reilly Opelka (born 28 August 1997) is an American professional tennis player. At 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 m), he is tied (with Ivo Karlović) for the tallest-ever ATP-ranked player, and can produce serves that measure over 140 miles per hour (225 km/h).[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 won the junior Wimbledon championship in 2015.
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.
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]
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 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 primarily due to a wrist injury,[32] 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.[33] Opelka continued his comeback with a victory over top seed Adrian Mannarino in round two.[34] In the quarterfinals he defeated Mackenzie McDonald in three sets to become the lowest ranked player in history to make an ATP level semifinal[35][36] where his run came to an end against Alex Michelsen.[37] 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.
He reached his first final since Houston in 2022 at the 2025 Brisbane International with an upset over top seed Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals (his eighth top-10 win),[38][39]
and then over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, recording his 100th career win and returning to the top 200 in the rankings to world No. 171.[40][41] He was the second lowest-ranked player to defeat Djokovic after Filip Krajinovic.[42] He was forced to retire in the final against Jiří Lehečka, citing back issues.[43]
Despite these injury concerns, he made a victorious start at the Australian Open, defeating Belgian Gauthier Onclin in the first round.[44]
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.
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