6-11 American plays big at big moments to upset Wawrinka
WIMBLEDON, England — Reilly Opelka still is getting used to some aspects of visiting Britain.
The bed frame where he stayed during a Wimbledon tuneup tournament that wasn’t quite big enough for the 6-11 American, for example. The lack of air conditioning compared to back home in Florida.
As for the grass-court tennis? Opelka is increasingly comfortable with that, as demonstrated by a 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 second-round victory over three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka at the All England Club on Wednesday.
“Every year I come here, and, like, ‘Why is there no AC?’ They’re, like, ‘Oh, it’s never hot here.’ Every year, it’s over 80 degrees!” Opelka said.
He is ranked 63rd and is unseeded for his main-draw debut at Wimbledon, where he won the 2015 junior title.
But against a far-more experienced and accomplished player, Opelka pounded eight of his 23 aces and saved both break points he faced in the last set, fending off 10 of Wawrinka’s 12 break chances in all. At 6-all in the fifth, Opelka erased a break chance with a 140 mph service winner, then followed with two more serves Wawrinka failed to put in play, at 133 mph and 137 mph.
It was Opelka’s ability to adjust his style, serve-and-volleying only three times in the final set, and to hang in there on longer exchanges that made this upset possible.
“I’ve always been a pretty good mover. Underrated, actually,” said the 21-year-old Opelka, participating in only his fourth major tournament. “I think sometimes when I play guys for the first time, they don’t expect it. It helps me win so many points, being able to (track) down some extra balls, especially in the key moments.”
It was the 22nd-seeded Wawrinka’s groundstrokes who failed him, with four errors that helped Opelka earn the only service break of the fifth set in the last game. When it ended, Opelka yelled, “Come on!” and then pounded his chest.
“At the end, he went for it,” Wawrinka said. “He went bigger than me, and he deserved to win.”
So maybe it’s time for Opelka to stop downplaying his chances.
Before facing Wawrinka, Opelka called it a “brutal matchup.”
Afterward, Opelka referred to Wawrinka as “the main attraction.”
On Friday, in his first appearance in third round of any Grand Slam tournament, Opelka will face someone else he labeled “the favorite” — 2016 Wimbledon runnerup Milos Raonic, who is seeded 15th.
“He’s as good as it gets when it comes to grass, so really, really excited for that matchup,” Opelka said. “It’s going to be a really big challenge playing a guy as good as he is on this surface.”
The same could be said of Opelka right now.
“He plays aggressive. He tries to keep you off-balance. He’s hard to get a rhythm on, because not only does he finish things off pretty quickly with his serve and getting ahead that way, but he’s constantly swinging for his other shots,” said Raonic, who entered Wimbledon dealing with a lingering back issue and had some issues with his left calf during Wednesday’s straight-set win over Robin Haase.
“He doesn’t really hold back. It’s hard to sort of work yourself into the points.”