Reilly Opelka is as tall as six feet 11 inches and is known to hit serves as fast as 140 mph. The four-time ATP tour-level champion played his last ATP tour-level match in August of 2022 against Nick Kyrgios in the Citi Open. The American dropped off the ATP map due to hip and wrist injuries.
“I totally definitely did (think of retiring). I was ready to pivot. I’m pretty confident I’ll land on my feet. I’ve always landed on my feet in whatever I did. I think I’m good at making the best of situations, and for me, I was ready to pivot.’’
Reilly’s return from his injury hiatus has started excellently, winning his first two matches in the Hall of Fame Open in Newport against Constant Lestienne and defending champion Adrian Mannarino.
Serving Genius Gives Reilly Opelka 1st Set
Reilly Opelka defeated Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in their Hall of Fame Open encounter. The serving monster, Reilly Opelka, hit 19 aces in the three sets he played against defending champion, Adrian Mannarino. The American had an 88% win percentage on his first serve, winning 42 of 48 contested points. His dominance showed at the net where he won 15 of 19 points.
The big American also smashed 37 winners past his French opponent. True to form, he had a maximum serve speed in the match of 141 mph and an average speed of 126 mph on his first serve. This was 18 mph more than the Frenchman managed all through the match.
Reilly Opelka started the match with three aces in the first game, hitting a speed of 137 mph on his first ace. He held his first service game. The first breakpoint opportunity of the match came in the 10th game on Adrian Mannarino’s serve.
Two unforced errors and a double fault gave Opelka three break points. Adrian saved two, but a huge winner from Opelka secured the break of Mannarino’s serve and the first set for the American.
Opelka Overcomes A Resurgent Mannarino
It took the American seven minutes to hold his serve at the beginning of the second set, but his superior serving came back to the forefront in his second service game where he hit two winners and two aces to hold his serve.
Mannarino was equally impressive in the second set and eventually managed to turn the screws on Opelka’s serve, forcing his first break point opportunity of the match in the seventh game. An unforced error gave Mannarino two break point opportunities and one unforced error of his own saved one of them.
With the Frenchman smelling blood, he secured the break with a winner. Unforced errors were Reilly Opelka’s undoing once again in the ninth game of the set as he hit three of them to gift Mannarino another break of his serve and a win of the second set.
The third set was an exhibition of serves, with both players hardly dropping points on serve in the first eight games of the set. The tables turned in the ninth game where Reilly Opelka raced to three break point opportunities. He took the break of Mannarino’s serve at the first try with his third winner of the game.
With the win just one game away, the American pulled out three aces from his service magician’s hat to serve out the set and win the match. Opelka will face fellow American, Mackenzie McDonald in the quarterfinals tomorrow. McDonald defeated Billy Harris today in three sets.
In Other Matches…
Aleksandar Kovacevic defeated Arthur Rinderknech in three sets. The American scored eight aces less than his French opponent but relied on his superior performance on his first serves to overcome Rinderknech.
Another American, Brandon Nakashima, will face Alex Bolt later today. Nakashima had defeated fellow American, Emilio Nava, yesterday in straight sets, while Alex Bolt overran Czech international Jakub Mensik in straight sets also.
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