Reilly Opelka, a “servebot” with interests, is continuing his steady rise at the US Open

Reilly Opelka isn’t in the ATP’s Top 10 just yet, but according to him, he’s among the elite in another important category.

He’s “first-team all-bot.”

Servebot, that is. Among tennis fans, this is a less-than-affectionate term for the sport’s towering ace machines, the players who rely on their serves to win matches, and drive opponents and fans up a wall in the process. Looking at Opelka’s height—6’11—and the number of aces he has hit this season—583—you’d have to say that he fits the description. And you’d get no argument from him.

“Right now, it’s Isner is first team. I’m first team. Karlovic is first team. Raonic, and I think Kevin Anderson,” Opelka said last month when he listed his all-bot all-stars.

How about Nick Kyrgios? Opelka agreed that the Aussie’s serve-hold percentage is probably high enough to qualify him for the team, but “servebots have to be a little bit miserable to watch, and he’s too exciting, too fun to watch.”

Don’t tell that to the fans who were inside Court 17 on Thursday to see Opelka play Lorenzo Musetti. The mostly packed house seemed to enjoy the contrast between the power-hitting American, who hit 28 aces, and the versatile, spin-loving Italian. U.S. fans especially enjoyed those moments when Opelka showed that he really is more than a serve.

He also understands how fine the margins between winning and losing are for players like him.

“That was a turning point, that really was,” Opelka said of the opening point of the tiebreaker. “The match could have changed completely. If I’m down 1-0, he hits two big serves, 3-0, not playing well, the next thing I’m down a set. That’s how crazy our sport is. One little point like that, one shot.”

As you can probably tell from those comments, Opelka may be a card-carrying servebot, but he’s not a robot. He has thoughts and interests and opinions on a range of topics—art, fashion, tour politics—and rarely gives a rote or dull answer to a question.

After the dust-up between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andy Murray earlier this week, Opelka ripped the “terrible” tennis media and made a strong defense of the players’ need to take breaks in the heat.

“We’re hydrating a lot, we have to use the bathroom,” he said. “To change my socks, shoes, my inserts in my shoes, shorts, shirt, everything, the whole nine yards, hat, it takes five, six minutes.”

“If people don’t understand that, then clearly they’ve never spent a day in the life of a professional athlete or come close to it.”

Asked today what it was like to play his first two matches on Court 17, Opelka offered a global perspective.

“I thought the crowd was great. Musetti had some great support, as well. I think that’s more fun that way too when— you know, it’s cool an Italian kid, and even when I played Soonwoo [Kwon, his first-round opponent], played a Korean kid, one Korean guy in the main draw from a far, far part of the world from here, and he had a nice fan base there as well.”

“That’s what makes the US Open fun. It’s not like so crazy all on one guy…Obviously I felt a lot of love today, but I think so did Musetti. I think that’s fun.”

This would seem to be Opelka’s moment. A late bloomer compared to peers like Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, he has survived injuries, rises and falls in the rankings, and a not-so-symptom-free case of Covid this spring. Now, after going 2-7 to start 2021, he is putting together his best season at 24. He made the semis of a Masters 1000 on clay in Rome, and the final of one on hard courts in Canada, and he came to the Open as a seed.

But while Opelka concedes that he has “definitely grown a lot in the last year,” he’s still taking it a tournament at a time.

“I haven’t made a second week of a Slam,” he said. “I’ve got to test my body to see what happens with four, five three-out-of-five-set matches. That’s the only reason why I say I don’t know if I’m ready. I’m not being negative; I’m just being realistic.”

“I think it’s just another step along the way that needs to happen so I can learn more about myself.”

Opelka could learn a lot about himself at this Open before it’s over. His next opponent, Nikoloz Basilashvili, is no pushover, but the American is not near any of the Top 4 seeds in the draw, and the quicker courts at Flushing Meadows should help him. Opelka is all-bot now, but he could be a Grand Slam contender sooner than he might think.