Former world No.17 Reilly Opelka has delivered his biggest victory over top seed Novak Djokovic in the upset of this year’s Brisbane International in the quarterfinals on Friday night.
The 2.11m – or 6ft 11in – American arrived in Australia having dipped to world No.293 after he missed much of the past two years due to hip surgery to remove a benign tumour and two wrist surgeries, but he made good on his protected ranking to snuff out the 24-time major champion’s hopes of a 100th career title 7-6(6) 6-3.
“He’s the greatest tennis player the sport’s ever seen,” Opelka said. “It’s difficult being in Novak’s position. He can scout me or his other opponent all day long.
“The reality is we have nothing to lose coming against him. He’s the greatest player ever so you end up playing more freely and you … take a lot more risk because it’s your only chance if you play your normal level, or even above your normal level, he’s going to win every time.
What have we just witnessed?!
In their first-ever meeting, Reilly Opelka has defeated Novak Djokovic 7-6(6) 6-4 to advance to the #BrisbaneTennis semifinals!
Breathless. Speechless. pic.twitter.com/ir5TS1A0er
— Brisbane International (@BrisbaneTennis) January 3, 2025
“It’s tough in his position because he gets guys who are good players who roll the dice and on a good day like this when a lot of things go my way that’s how it works out.”
Everything appeared to work for the 27-year-old. He thumped 16 aces to Djokovic’s eight and finished with a winners count of 36, more than double what his opponent managed.
Djokovic had not fallen to a player from the US since his third-round Wimbledon loss to Sam Querrey in 2016, while Opelka had not managed a top-10 win since his upset of then-No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2021 Toronto Masters.
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Opelka had not even faced a top-10 rival since a defeat to Casper Ruud in Geneva in 2022, but he showed no signs of nerves as he comfortably served out his biggest career victory on his 16th ace for a semifinal clash against fellow big server Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, a 7-5 7-6(5) winner over Czech Jakub Mensik.
“I just focused on my spots,” Opelka said of serving out the match. “If I hit them it’s hard to get them back. If anyone can it’s him. I was ready for that.
“If it happened, it happened. There was still more tennis to be played. Not the end of the world if it ends. If I get broken then we carry on.”