In his extended break from tennis, Reilly Opelka has managed to become a social media sensation. Opelka remains passionate about American tennis and his colleagues on the ATP and WTA Tours. Recently, he congratulated Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul for a historic run at the Wimbledon 2024 Championships.
With Fritz and Paul winning their respective Round of 16 matches, they become the first American pair to reach the men’s singles quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 24 years. Remarkably, the last pair to do were legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in the year 2000.
As Tennis Channel lauded the two youngsters for their performances, Opelka stole the show with a unique and rather, controversial way of congratulating them. He claimed that Fritz and Paul are hotter than Sampras and Agassi.
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One of the most liked replies in the comments section, Opelka took the tennis world by storm. Individuals reacted to his statement with a lot of sarcasm.
Reilly Opelka, what????? Fritz and Paul compared comically to Sampras and Agassi! pic.twitter.com/a0St6VCbXf
— Wide World of Tennis (@tennisfan_dkr) July 10, 2024
Opelka’s take left fans in splits and surprised them. But it was lighthearted banter since Opelka is close friends with both Fritz and Paul and was trying to cheer them up ahead of their respective quarter-final matches.
And it seems that Fritz is the hottest American tennis property at the moment for many fans and other players, not just in looks.
Fritz Only American Left Across Singles Events at Wimbledon 2024
Wimbledon 2024 saw some terrific performances from men’s and women’s players either being American natives or having trained in the United States to become professionals. In the women’s category, although no player made it to the semifinals, the growth of Emma Navarro and New Zealand’s Lulu Sun was heartening to watch.
Navarro and Sun exceeded expectations by making it to the quarterfinals in a tough tournament, that too on grass. They surpassed the likes of Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins and Madison Keys to make it that far.
In the men’s singles event, Frances Tiafoe gets a special mention for having played an outstanding Round of 32 match against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, in which he fell agonisingly short of an incredible victory.
Alcaraz also beat Paul in the quarterfinals in a 4-set match, breaking American hearts. However, Fritz is the last hope for the United States at the time of writing this report.
After winning the Eastbourne International 2024, Fritz carried his form into Wimbledon and scraped through difficult matches. Being 2 sets down against Alexander Zverev in the Round of 16, the American No.1 men’s player bounced back to win the next 3 and defeat the French Open 2024 finalist.
That result has made many believe in Fritz to make it at least to the semifinals, which would go a long way in inspiring many upcoming American tennis players. Fritz was leading 5-2 against Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the first set of their quarter-final match on Wednesday. If he wins, he would play former champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
Interested fans can catch Fritz LIVE on BBC (for UK viewers) and ESPN (for US viewers).
