3
Opelka On Being Tall And His Favorite Players To Watch
· Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles
Reilly Opelka is the highest ranked American player right now and also one of the best interviews.
Can you talk about what it’s like to go through life as such a tall man, how that affects you. Is it a plus? Downside?
REILLY OPELKA: Yeah, the only fun side is hitting an ace on a big point. Yeah, it’s something I’ve learned to live with. I don’t know anything else, to be honest. I don’t really remember, because I got tall pretty early. I was 15, 16, and maybe even 14, and I was already over 6 foot. It’s not like I know any other way. If I woke up like this, then I’d be a lot more, I’d have more negative comments to tell you about it.
You just get used to it. You get used to ducking and, you know, having your legs crammed in a car. Just, I don’t know, there are some things like that. And you get used to some comments like people make all the time or just some stupid little comments, that people ask me all the time how tall I am.
You know, quite frankly, it happens 10 times a day. You would think people would understand, Oh, he probably gets asked that all the time, I’m not going to be that guy. For the most part I’m pretty nice when I answer. Sometimes I’m not so nice (smiling). Just depends on my mood.
When I’m in the States I’ll put on a French accent, Oh, 211 centimeter, and then they don’t know what that is. That just makes me feel good. When I’m in France, Yeah, I’m 7 foot. They don’t know what it is. That’s kind of been my new one.
Favorite Players To Watch:
Diego Schwartsman is one of my favorites. He’s different. He hits the hell out of the ball. He’s super-aggressive. But, yeah, when I see Schwartzman or Yoshi, Yoshi (Yoshihito Nishioka), I’m like, This guy has to get up every day and just grind.
Like it’s crazy to me that every single point, you know, he’s running side to side, scrapping for every single point. That happens to me like two, three times a match and I’m dead, I’m gassed. He’s doing it every single point. Makes me respect those guys even more, Yoshi and Schwartzman.
I’m a fan of tennis, I really am. I like watching these guys play. I like watching different styles. I enjoy, quite frankly, just enjoy watching them, as many other people do.
Opelka defeated Leo Musetti 76 75 64 to set up a third round duel with Nikolas Basilashvili.
Fila · Reilly Opelka · US Open
