Learner Tien vs. Reilly Opelka: Where to Watch, Toronto Preview

Generations turn over quickly in tennis. At 27, Opelka is only eight years older than than the teenage Tien, but in terms of the American men’s game, they come from two different eras.

Four years ago, Opelka reached his career peak when he made the final in Toronto, and moved into the Top 20. At that point, he was as much the future of U.S. men’s tennis as his three friends, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and Frances Tiafoe. But injuries took him out of the running for a couple of years, and now he finds himself at No. 74, trying to scale the mountain from scratch again.

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Which puts him on pretty level terms with Tien. The 19-year-old Californian has had a promising, if predictably up and down, rookie season. He broke out of the gates by reaching the second week at the Australian Open, but now finds himself a more realistic 15-16 on the year, and ranked 61st. Two days ago, Tien recorded one of his best wins, over 22nd seed Denis Shapovalov.

The core fact of this match is that Opelka is a foot taller than Tien. That means it will be Opelka’s serve vs. Tien’s speed and consistency. Much will depend on Tien’s ability to get himself into rallies. In their only previous meeting, on clay in Rome, he did it well enough to win in two close sets.

These are hard courts, though, and ones that Opelka has liked in the past. But based on their seasons, and their current confidence levels, I’ll give the edge to Tien anyway. Winner: Tien