Reilly Opelka was candid about the balmy New York conditions this week at the US Open.
“It’s hot. I need to wear a hat just to be able to see the ball.”
The 23-year-old American from St. Joseph, Mich., is also eager to build on a stellar summer of tennis, which included an ATP Masters 1000 final at the National Bank Open in Toronto, Canada.
Opelka stated that the biggest match of his career was against South African Lloyd Harris in the Round of 16, when he staved off a match point to win in three sets 4-6, 7-6, 7-6. This propelled Opelka to the final in Toronto, with his run including wins against Roberto Bautista Agut and world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“You never know when the biggest match of your life is going to be,” Opelka said. “As a kid when you're thinking about what your biggest match is, it's on a center court, tons of people. In that case [against Harris] it was on the back court, no fans, in Toronto, 100 degrees, super humid, down match point in the third round. You never know when the biggest match of your life is going to be. So far to date that was it.”
Opelka also expanded on his improvement over the last year, citing a “night and day difference” from when he was struggling with a knee injury at the 2020 US Open, where he lost to David Goffin in the first round. The 22nd seed is quick to temper expectations ahead of this year's first-round match against Soonwoo Kwon, however.
“I've definitely grown a lot in the last year,” Opelka said. “It doesn't mean that, you know, I'm not expecting to showcase it all in one week. The season's long. The way the sport works, we're 40 weeks pretty much. Your top 18 results matter, more than just one week, more than just four Grand Slams. Yeah, I mean, I would love to carry my momentum through this week. But everyone's tough here. There's no such thing as a good draw anymore.”
