Reilly Opelka is looking like one of the 2019 season's breakout stars

By Cale Hammond Feb 22, 2019
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Reilly Opelka is looking like one of the 2019 season's breakout stars

The young American recently won the New York Open, and is a player nobody is looking forward to facing.

ByCale Hammond

Published Feb 22, 2019

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Pro tennis rewards players who possess huge weapons. Reilly Opelka has those huge weapons—a massive first and second serve—so much that if he hits just two or three good returns, combined with a good serving day, he'll be in a great position to win his match.

While Opelka wasn't as sharp as he needed to be on serve and return last night against Juan Martin del Potro, in Delray Beach, you can see his weapons leave their marks on a Top 4 player in the GIFs below.

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Fresh off his first main-draw win at a major in Melbourne, over fellow star server John Isner, Reilly spoke with me a few weeks ago in Los Angeles. He was genuinely kind and unassuming, a humble 21-year-old with a gift for the game. But he was quite confident in one thing: his second serve.

After a nice discussion, we may have disagreed a little over who had the best second serve in the world. I said Isner, but the answer may have been staring at me from across the table.

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Reilly is going to be a problem for a lot of players. He is at least an inch taller than Isner, he moves better than Ivo Karlovic ever did, and he didn’t hit 10,000 serves playing four years of college tennis. He has arrived, he's fresh, and his game should only improve—along with his serve, a scary thought for anyone who's already faced him. He should have a massive insurance policy on his right shoulder.

Opelka is currently ranked 56 in the world. The Top 50 is only a matter of time, and beyond. I bet he'll remain in the tour's upper reaches for a very long time.

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• Watch Juan Martin del Potro, John Isner and Frances Tiafoe live on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Tuesday, 2/19 at 12:30 am ET.

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