Making his Top 25 debut, Reilly Opelka not "riding" Toronto run for too long

“It's an unforgiving sport. It's hard to follow up weeks,” the American said after contesting his first Masters 1000 final.

ByMatt Cronin

Published Aug 16, 2021

HIGHLIGHT: R. Opelka def S. Tsitsipas; Toronto SF

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TORONTO HIGHLIGHTS: Opelka outslugs Tsitsipas

Reaching his first Masters 1000 final this past weekend enabled Reilly Opelka to break the Top 30 for the first time, ensuring he’ll be seeded at his home major at the end of the month.

The 23-year-old finished runner-up to Daniil Medvedev in Toronto, lifting him nine spots in the rankings to No. 23. As a result, Opelka is back to holding the fort down as the ATP’s top-ranked American by overtaking John Isner, who also rose four spots by getting to the semifinals.

Opelka's not sure whether he can climb higher in Cincinnati, after a tiring week that saw him defeat Nick Kyrgios, No. 14 seed Grigor Dimitrov, Lloyd Harris (saved a match point), No. 10 seed Roberto Bautista Agut, and No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, a former finalist. But the Delray Beach, Fla. resident is confident he can bounce back for the US Open.

“It's an unforgiving sport. It's hard to follow up weeks,” Opelka said. “The Big Three have done it exceptionally well, but it's not easy to do. I don't really have much expectations for Cincinnati, but I definitely want to emphasize the US Open, and give it my best.”

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In 2020, Opelka advanced to the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open when it was held at Flushing Meadows.

Even though his ranking has gone up, the almost seven-foot Opelka says that's not what counts against opponents, especially with his big-serving game. While his movement is relatively good and he's working on improving his forehand, Opelka knows a lot of his scorelines will be tight.

“Everyone is good. I have lost so many matches are such a fine line," he said. “I can be [in a tiebreak] in the third with a guy outside of the Top 100. So that's the downside to me is, the level, the discrepancy and level between me and those guys, it's extremely small.

"It's always going to come down to a couple of points. So it's just about the details. I’m confident, obviously have won matches, I'll have some expectation of myself, but I'm not going to be riding this win for too long.”

Opelka opens his Western & Southern Open campaign Tuesday against France’s Corentin Moutet.

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