
It’s not too often on the tennis circuit that a teenager wins a Challenger title, though it has become more common in recent years. Yet less common is when that teenager has endured as torrid an injury-stricken professional career as Reilly Opelka has had to endure.
Opelka won his first Challenger title on Sunday in Charlottesville, defeating Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium, a former Davis Cup finalist, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6. It was a tough match for the nineteen year-old, who was blown away by his more experienced opponent in the second set, broken twice and barely winning any points against Bemelmans’ serve.
Opelka recovered to play a tighter final set, saving the single break point of the set, before playing lights-out tennis in the tie-break, winning the single point against serve to win seven-five.
— Jonathan Fried Pro Challenger (@CMPChallenger) November 6, 2016
Above: Opelka celebrating his inaugural Challenger title in Charlottesville.
His career has not been smooth sailing however. After winning the Junior Wimbledon Singles title in 2015, Opelka’s injury troubles hit, with a stress fracture in his foot causing him to miss a chunk of the late 2015 and early 2016 seasons. Even on his return things were not easy. After his return to the Futures circuit in February he won back-to-back matches only once in his first nine events (this run coming in qualifying for the ATP event in Houston, d.Novikov, d. Barton).
However, in August his season took off. Just a week after losing in the final round of qualifying for a Challenger Opelka tore through the Atlanta Open, defeating Christopher Eubanks, Kevin Anderson and Donald Young en route to his first ATP semi-final. He was toppled by one of the few man who stand in comparable height to him in John Isner (The ATP now lists Opelka at 6’11, taller than Isner). His season continued to improve, scoring wins against ATP veterans in Jeremy Chardy and Eduard Roger-Vasselin in back-to-back events.
His run last week saw him edge fellow American junior talent Michael Mmoh, defeat Denis Kudla in straight sets and then defeat a man who this time last year was preparing to face Andy Murray in the Davis Cup final. His title win in Charlottesville sees him take a ranking just outside the Top 200, though due the USTA’s reciprocal agreement with their Australian counterparts, Opelka is well placed to earn a direct main draw wildcard as a result of his performances this week, likely avoiding a qualifying draw that his new ranking would have helped him gain entry into.
Given his youth and marked lack of playing time, it is hard to gauge Opelka’s future. However, there are one or two signs that he could follow fellow American John Isner into the Top 10 one day. Opelka has displayed an ability to break serve, even against other top servers. In Atlanta he was 5-3 down in the final set against Kevin Anderson, only to earn two consecutive breaks and the win. Though Anderson helped Opelka’s cause that day with an uncharacteristic number of double-faults, the young American refused to crumble when others may have succumbed to the big server trying to close out the match.
Other situations include one that he again demonstrated this week. John Isner and Ivo Karlovic are amongst the most adept at winning tie-breaks, and Opelka has shown an aptitude for similar feats. The final set against Bemelmans saw Opelka win just four points against serve, and lose more than half his second serve points on the way to the tie-break. Once there however, he dropped no points on serve and took the crucial mini-break to secure an unlikely victory. He also secured a tie=break set win against John Isner in his eventual three-set defeat in the Atlanta semi-finals.
Opelka looks to have recovered from the tough start to his career, and with a likely wildcard into the Australian Open beckoning, it looks as things are finally looking up for the young serving prodigy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq9F2xiJC0s
Highlights of Opelka’s win over Ruben Bemelmans in Charlottesville.