6'11" Monster Man Reilly Opelka Becomes The First American To Beat Novak Djokovic In Nearly a Decade

PATRICK HAMILTON. Getty Images.

Normally I'd hold off on blogging a tennis match until we got to the Aussie in a few weeks, but an upset of this magnitude and importance warrants an audible in my mind. This morning we woke up to see American Reilly Opelka beat Novak Djokovic over in Brisbane. Novak entered this one -2500 on the moneyline…

Insane. Never in a million years did I think Opelka in his current form was gonna be the guy to break through and slay the dragon that is Novak Djokovic. Does it come in a major? No, but Americans have been slaughtered by the Serbian non-stop for nearly a decade. The last time it went our way was at Wimbledon when Sam Querrey pulled it off in 2016. It's been ugly since. A handful of potential American slam champs have been shutdown at the hands of Djokovic. Any win against this maniac should be celebrated, even if it comes at the end of his career. 

Opelka was a problem on tour when he was healthy, standing 6 foot 11 inches and serving among the elite of the elite. He got up to 17th in the world in 2022 before a hip surgery and multiple wrist operations sidelined him for 18 months. Dude nearly retired right then and there and even took up tennis broadcasting for a bit. Well, I'd say he made the right call pushing through. 

I loved his mindset in this match. Dude just went for it and didn't care if he failed. 

Over the years we've seen countless Americans face Djokovic and essentially shit themselves. They play scared and don't take nearly enough chances when there's an opening. Last night Opelka played balls to the wall with nothing to lose and it got him a straight sets W over the greatest player in the game's history. 

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It's the worst loss in a completed match (based on ranking) in Djokovic's career. Opelka entered the match ranked 293rd in the world since he's missed so much time and struggled to string together success since his comeback. Would be cool if he could stay healthy and get back into the top 100. That level he played against Novak was outrageous. His next match tomorrow morning comes against young French star Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard who has one of the more unreturnable serves in the game right now. Guy doesn't have a slow second serve, it's just two first serves and he hits missiles. Surprisingly has a nice touch around the net too along with a clean one handed backhand. I'm expecting every set to go to a tiebreak and for Gio to prevail. 

As for Novak? Father time comes for everyone. He seemed a step slow from start to finish here and struggled mightily with Reilly's massive serve. While it's a tough match for him to swallow it's also the first tournament of the year for him. Andy Murray has yet to join him in his coaching box as he's on a skiing trip with his family, but I'm fascinated to see what that team looks like at the Aussie. As for now though, it's Sinner and Alcaraz's sport with Novak's career seemingly hanging on by a thread. Wouldn't shock me if this is his final year, but then again I wouldn't put it past him to flip a switch and go on one more slam run whether it's in Australia or Wimbledon. Happy tennis season. 

Full match highlights below