Reilly Opelka: From 1,008th-ranked lucky loser to Houston's No. 4 seed

This week, Reilly Opelka is the No. 4 seed at the ATP 250 tournament in Houston. It's been only three years since the 21-year-old made his ATP main-draw debut on the same red clay in Texas as a lucky loser ranked No. 1,008.

"If I look back [at 2016], I'm a completely different player now," Opelka told TENNIS.com on Monday. "Physically I'm in much better shape, I'm a lot stronger, and I'm a lot more consistent."

Opelka has come a long way in a short time. The world No. 56 won his first ATP title in New York in February, which included his second win of the young season over fellow tall American John Isner. Opelka's serve is devastating on any surface, but in three appearances at the U.S. Clay Court Championships in Houston, he has yet to win a main-draw match.

Still, the St. Joseph, Michigan native considers it a favorite stop on the tour calendar.

"I love Houston. It's one of the best tournaments in the U.S. and one of the best-attended ATP 250s I think you can find, even from first-round qualifying," says Opelka. "You should have seen it the other day it was a full house here—that makes it more exciting."

Opelka is big on fan support, especially when he's playing in the U.S. He was surprised to get booed by Argentinian fans while walking out in Miami against Diego Schwartzman, a match he won in three sets.

"You actually feel like you're playing at home [in Houston]," Opelka says. "I remember Isner playing [Gael] Monfils at the US Open and the crowd rooting for Monfils, which is kind of crazy. So that's another great part about Houston, that home crowd feel."

He's feeling even more comfortable thanks to having good friends alongside him. There are 11 Americans in the main draw, and Opelka was the best man at one of their weddings. Taylor Fritz, who got married in 2016, is the No. 5 seed in singles this week, and is also Opelka's doubles partner.

"Playing the same tournaments as my friends is great. We've been hanging out all the time," Opelka says. "He's staying in a house right next to mine.

"Doubles is always fun. We both have similar personalities on the tennis court, we're both very laid back and not too serious with it."

But not too laid back. While players Opelka's age are often hooked on video games and social media, Opelka is a little different.

"I'm not a big video gamer at all. Fritz is definitely the biggest gamer," the 6'11" Floridian said. "I play a lot of basketball."

While he has an Instagram account, Opelka isn't active on Twitter—unless you count the verified @ReillyOpelka account that has zero tweets and 166 followers.

"It got hacked—so if you're blocked, everyone got blocked," Opelka reassures. "I don't even have access to my Twitter anymore. Once that happened I haven't been back."

This week, Opelka hopes he'll be the talk of Twitter for another reason: his play. His big-serving game can leave a mark on the dirt in Houston, and with a bye for the first time in his ATP career, he'll have a head start on another deep run. He'll play Casper Ruud, who won his opening-round match over Hugo Dellien, 7-6 (7), 6-4.

"It's definitely nice to have a bye, and have a few extra days to get acclimated here and get set up," Opelka says. "It's made life a lot easier being close to the Top 50 than where I was last year."

And especially three years ago.