Bye recovery, hello practice: Reilly Opelka wants to leave 'managing' mindset behind 

FRISCO, Texas—The last time Reilly Opelka entered the Dallas Open, he emerged as the inaugural winner back in 2022 when the event debuted at Southern Methodist University.

Three years later, Opelka was triumphant in his return to a tour stop now boasting an upgraded ATP 500 status and new digs in Frisco. On Wednesday, the former world No. 17 defeated Alexander Shevchenko, 7-6 (2), 6-4, inside Ford Center at The Star.

"Brings back good memories and having another 500 on home turf is great,” he told TENNIS.com. “It’s a two-hour flight for me. You can’t underestimate how valuable that is.

"You really don’t get many opportunities to get your ranking back up. It was very nice of the tournament to give me a wild card and the opportunity to try and get back in the Top 100.”

Opelka, currently ranked No. 145, unleashed 18 aces and converted the lone break point of the 77-minute match on either side to line up a second-round meeting with Cameron Norrie. The 27-year-old is now 6-2 on the year, following an encouraging January that saw him knock off Novak Djokovic en route to a runner-up effort in Brisbane.

“A lot of progress was made in between Australia and here,” he told Jason Goodall on Tennis Channel afterwards. “I did a lot of homework, a lot of back rehab. I think we’re really kind of heading down the right track.”

The 6’ 11’’ American missed the 2023 and 2024 editions of this tournament when hip and wrist injuries kept him away from the ATP Tour for nearly two years. In Brisbane, a back issue forced Opelka to retire down 1-4 in the first set to Jiri Lehecka.

It’s really important to make the most out of your practice days. You can’t do that if you’re managing your body, managing pain all the time. Reilly Opelka

The four-time ATP title holder believes he needs to get past the point of “managing” his body to have a shot at replicating his past successes.

“I really want to get out of that mindset. That’s currently where I’ve been at, managing. I don’t want to be doing that,” Opelka said.

“I want to be focused on winning and playing my best tennis. If you’re just playing matches, you kind of start to create some habits that you might not like technically. It’s really important to make the most out of your practice days. You can’t do that if you’re managing your body, managing pain all the time.

"I really want to try to get on the other end of it and make those days off practice days, and not recovery days.”