Unfortunately for Reilly Opelka and his fans, the 2022 season was plagued by injuries for the big-serving American. Opelka began his season with a 17-6 record and a couple of titles before sputtering to a 4-9 finish. When healthy, Opelka looked like a contending force. Let’s take a closer look at his 2022 season and what to expect from the 25-year-old in 2023.
Reilly Opelka’s strong start to the 2022 season
Opelka opened the season with a 4-3 record over three tournaments in Australia. As the No. 23 seed at the Australian Open, he was bested in the third round by No. 13 seed Denis Shapovalov 6-7(4) 6-4 3-6 4-6.
The Michigan native returned to American soil, where he saw great success in February. Opelka won the Dallas Open without dropping a set, notching the third tour-level title of his career. The following week he advanced to the final in Delray Beach before being ousted by Cameron Norrie 6-7(1) 6-7(4). Although this two-week 7-1 spell was not comprised of any highly-ranked victories, it looked like a strong springboard into the meat of the ATP calendar.
Opelka had a strong showing at Indian Wells, defeating Lorenzo Musetti and avenging his Aussie Open loss to Shapovalov before running into the buzzsaw that was Rafael Nadal. He ended the early hard-court season with a 13-6 record with two finals appearances and one title.
The clay season, which has been a thorn in the side for the 6’11” American, started better than Opelka could have imagined. He took home the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships title in Houston, defeating Nick Kyrgios and John Isner en route to his second title of the season, the fourth of his career, and first on clay.
At this point of the season, Opelka held a career-high ranking of World No. 17 and had seemingly turned into a player who was not just defined by his blistering serve. The then 24-year-old showed off newfound consistency from the ground and a willingness to come forward and attack opponents at the net. Unfortunately for Opelka and his fans, he won just four matches the rest of the season.
Injuries plague Opelka’s second-half
Opelka won just two of seven European clay-court matches, including a First Round, straight-set loss to Filip Krajinovic at Roland Garros. Opelka managed just one victory in three grass-court events before it was revealed he was dealing with a myriad of injuries. He played just two more matches in 2022 before shutting it down for the season.
Although nothing was specified from the Opelka camp, it was reported that the American was plagued with hip and ankle issues. There was not an exact moment in a match where Opelka seemed to injure himself, but during the European clay-court season and the grass swing, you could tell that he was not fully fit.
What’s next for Reilly Opelka?
As the calendar turns, the injury issues that plagued the second half of Opelka’s 2022 season should (hopefully) be a thing of the past. He has been practicing down in South Florida with coach Jay Berger as all signs indicate a healthy Opelka showing up to Australia.
Because he could not defend ranking points during the second half of the season, Opelka has slipped down to World No. 38. He will all but likely not be seeded at the Australian Open and will have to play his way back into the top 20.
I could see Opelka struggling in Australia as he looks to regain match fitness and comfortability on-court. He will not have played an ATP match for over five months by this time. I do, however, expect Opelka to find form in February in Dallas, Delray Beach, and Acapulco, as he will be defending a good amount of ranking points at these events.
As the season progresses, Opelka’s comfortability should grow. We have seen it take some time for players to return to high-level tour action, so expect some bumps along the way for the American.
A few attainable goals I have for Opelka are:
- Seeded at Wimbledon and the US Open
- Reach the second week at the US Open
- Reach a Masters quarterfinal
- Win fifth tour-level title
- Finish the year ranked inside the top 20
I am excited and intrigued to watch Opelka return to the ATP Tour in 2023. He is a player who can hit from the baseline with the best in the sport and provide a good amount of variety in his play, something the “serve bot” critics tend to overlook.
Main Photo from Getty.
