Written by Michael Lewis
England’s Wimbledon When I first met Reilly Opelka, I was taller than him.
People either immediately laugh when I tell them this or give me a disbelieving look.
However, it is true. I was five feet five in 2009, and I’m still five feet five (okay, so I’m probably five four now since most of my hair has fallen out). He was about five minutes before three.
He was only eleven years old, of course.
I’ve known the 7-foot professional tennis player and former Indian Trails Middle School student for 16 years, and throughout that time I’ve witnessed him in a variety of mental states.
When he qualified for the U.S. Open Juniors in 2013 at the age of 15, I witnessed him beaming with happiness. His parents, George and Lynne, and I stood on a walkway inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, looking at one other and exclaiming, “Can you believe we’re actually here?”
Or in the 2019 New York Open on Long Island, where he took home his maiden ATP Tour victory. He couldn’t stop smiling as we talked about his first instructor, former tennis great Tom Gullikson, and their practice sessions at Grand Haven and other locations. I was lucky enough to be there the entire week.
He was stunned and a little shell-shocked when he won the Junior Boys title at Wimbledon in 2015, for example, and he told me over the phone that it wasn’t a huge event, even though it obviously was.
When things weren’t going his way during his gradual ascent up the ATP Tour ladder, for example, I’ve witnessed him become irate. Because tennis is such a frustrating sport, Opelka has occasionally snapped at chair umpires and lines judges, like other tennis players (maybe with the exception of Jannik Sinner, who never seems to get upset).
Thus, I have witnessed Opelka in almost every possible mood. However, on Thursday afternoon, I noticed a man who appeared defeated in Interview Room 5 of the Media Pavilion at Wimbledon.
depressed, angry, and confused about his career’s current state.
Opelka has put in a lot of effort in recent years to recover from injuries; he had a terrible wrist surgery that went horribly wrong, had another operation to correct it, and missed another two years on the professional tour before making a comeback in July.
Opelka was overjoyed to be healthy again when he returned, but he also understood that it would take several months for him to recover and begin climbing the tennis ladder again.
This man, who was ranked No. 17 in the world only a few years ago, is about to make a significant Grand Slam breakthrough. Given his rocketship serve, which can reach speeds of over 140 miles per hour and swoop past unlucky opponents after striking the immaculately groomed green grass here, many people, including John McEnroe, predicted that he would win Wimbledon someday.
However, eight months have passed, and on Thursday at Wimbledon, she lost in four sets to American Brandon Nakashima in the second round.
Opelka informed me that I was dominated. It’s awful. It’s awful when I lose the second round every week. There must be a change.
The large 28-year-old claimed that his recent difficult losses aren’t physical, despite losing in the second round of his last four competitions. He claimed that after stepping up and participating in a regular tournament program in 2025, his body feels fantastic. He was ranked No. 70 going into Wimbledon.
Ironically, his serve is the issue. Betraying him has always been his most dangerous weapon. Opelka wins 90 percent of those points and receives 70 to 75 percent of his first serves in play when things are going well.
According to Opelka, he has been winning barely 75% of his points and putting in 60% of his first serves during the past few months.
According to him, those are the only figures that count. At the moment, my serve is really awful.
Former professional coach Denis Kudla, who has been Opelka’s traveling coach for the past year, is more upbeat about his player’s performance.
Kudla stated that although he still has a long way to go, he is making progress. We all desire quick results sometimes. Reilly is a professional who is aware of the procedure. Slowly but surely, he’s making progress.
Opelka isn’t really certain.
“I’ll give up,” he said. You lose the second round every week and don’t get paid. I’ll simply wait till my ranking deteriorates to the point where I’m quitting if I continue to lose.
After all the time and effort he has put in, I would hate to see him quit, so I hope this was simply frustration speaking.
However, as they say, Opelka has never been completely focused on tennis and has always been a different cat. He is an art enthusiast who has made connections with gallery owners like Tim van Laere in Belgium and visited galleries in every European city he visited while playing.
Some athletes make you question what they would do with their time if tennis weren’t an option. That is not how Opelka is. He has a wide range of hobbies. He is intelligent, articulate, and has the potential to be an excellent broadcaster if he so chooses.
Perhaps it’s a good thing he’s considering leaving if he’s unhappy and having trouble with tennis. After all, he is still young.
I hope that’s not the case, though. He deserves to return and experience the same level of success that he did a few years ago, the type that seemed predestined on the Palm Coast Tennis Center’s courts—the courts that now bear his name.
Reaching new heights before he passes away would only be appropriate for the tallest tennis player in history.
Since 2013, Michael Lewis has provided coverage for FlaglerLive for Reilly Opelka.
