America’s
Reilly Opelka has been handed admission into
the upcoming
ASB Classic. The 27-year-old, who has struggled with fitness
concerns for a substantial part of his career, produced arguably the best result
of his career as he defeated the former world number one Serbia’s Novak
Djokovic in the quarterfinal of the
Brisbane International in straight sets
with a score of 7-6, 6-3.
ASB Classic, the tournament which is set to begin from
Monday in Auckland and will be the last just before the Australian Open, has
confirmed that the former world number 17 will feature in the competition. The
development was confirmed by tournament director Nico Lamperin in a statement. “He’s had a pretty good season,” he said. “He
got a main draw [Australian Open] wildcard so he was available to play that
week and we thought it was a good pick for the tournament.”
After producing that result, Opelka was quoted in a report where
he expressed satisfaction after registering the biggest win of his career. He
also stated that he stuck to his plan against Djokovic which was to hit it
hard.
“I was just focused on my spots,” said Opelka. “If I hit
them, it’s hard to get them back. If there’s anyone that can, it’s him. We have
nothing to lose coming in against him. He’s the greatest player ever. So, you
end up playing more free and you take a lot more risk. If you play your normal
level or even above a normal level, he’s going to win every time. So, it’s
tough in his position because he gets guys that are good players that they roll
the dice. And on a day like this when a lot of things go my way that’s how it
works out.”
Opelka will face France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the
semifinal of the competition. The 21-year-old defeated Jakub Mensik in the
quarterfinal in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 7-6.