“I wish I had played basketball” Reilly Opelka talks of the struggles of a tall tennis player, reveals how the airplanes determine his result on the court


“I wish I had played basketball” Reilly Opelka talks of the struggles of a tall tennis player, reveals how the airplanes determine his result on the court

Reilly Opelka

Reilly Opelka is an American tennis player who is known for his massive height of 6 feet 11 inches. Opelka’s short career highlights till now include his Junior Wimbledon Championship. The tallest player in tennis made his mark after he stunned Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon 2019 in the round of 64. He has won four ATP singles titles and one doubles title.

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The American was set to play in the Atlanta Open but couldn’t feature because despite being the top-seed, an injury forced Opelka to withdraw from the event in Atlanta a day before his match which was scheduled with Ilya Ivashka dampening his preparations for the upcoming 2022 US Open where Opelka will be one of the home favourites.

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Reilly Opelka: I wish I had played basketball, those guys have a life!

Reilly Opelka

The tallest tennis player at 6ft 11in, Opelka towers over most of his rivals, but he has had to overcome plenty of obstacles to play at the highest level Reilly Opelka is making big strides in tennis but the 21-year-old American has a confession to make. He would have preferred to have been a Basketball player not because he doesn’t like tennis, but because he insists that he finds it hard to travel as a tennis player given his unique body structure.

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In a recent interview, he said, “ Yes, I wish I had played basketball,Opelka admits. “One hundred per penny. Those guys have a liveliness. The league minimum is five million [ dollars ] a year. And you get to stay in the States, fly private, large planes. It’s life. Finding comfortable beds in hotels and seats on aeroplanes is a challenge (for me). The biggest issue is flying,” he said.

“Obviously I have to fly Business class, but once I’m in Europe or somewhere where I have a three-hour flight where they don’t have a full-on Business course, that’s where I struggle. I’ve got off planes before with my back completely locked. But I regard flying Business as a must. If I didn’t fly Business I’d decidedly be in the loss because I’d be excessively stiff to play. ” he added.

The American will directly play in the 2022 Toronto open which will begin on 5th August and conclude on 14th August. Last year’s runner-up of the Toronto Open Opelka will also be competing to claim the title that he lost in 2021 to Daniil Medvedev.

Also read: “Novak Djokovic couldn’t do anything” Former French Open champion heaps praise on Stan Wawrinka for being a rare multi-major winner in the era of Big-3

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