"I lived for free for like two years": From juniors and dorm rooms to lifelong friends as Tommy Paul and Reilly Opelka remark on special bond

Long-time friends Tommy Paul and Reilly Opelka may be rivals on court, but off it their bond remains firmly intact.

Appearing together on Nothing Major with hosts Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson ahead of the MGM Slam in Las Vegas, the pair reflected on their friendship, living together for years, and why competitive tension has never derailed their relationship.

With both players preparing for the exhibition event in Las Vegas, travel plans were still loosely in the works. “We were talking about going together on Saturday and going to dinner at Catch over there in Vegas,” Paul said before admitting nothing had been finalized. “We might be traveling together.”

As for the tournament favorite? There was little hesitation. “I would say Fritz. By far,” they agreed, echoing the consensus around Taylor Fritz.

The hosts noted that nearly every guest had picked Fritz to win. Paul, however, had at least one believer in the room, with Querrey backing him for the title.

Paul and Opelka’s history stretches back to their junior days. “We’ve played each other for as long as I can remember, since we were like 10 years old,” Paul said. “In the pros, we’ve actually only played each other twice in like 10 years.”

That rarity has likely helped preserve the friendship. “We know how to play each other, and we know how to stay friends at the same time.”

When they did meet earlier this year in Adelaide, it was simply another chapter in a long-running rivalry, not a strain on the relationship.

Their friendship extended well beyond tournament grounds. The two lived together at various stages — first in dorms as teenagers, then in an apartment in Orlando, and eventually in a rental house. “It was Reilly’s house,” Paul said. “I lived for free for like two years.”

Opelka didn’t dispute it. “He never charged me.” The arrangement became a running joke during the interview, with the hosts referencing Paul’s past stories about financial mismanagement. But any imbalance, Opelka suggested, was offset by practice sessions.

“I got the better end of the deal because he had to practice with me half the time.”

Despite their laid-back personalities, both players insisted they were relatively tidy roommates. “Everyone thought Tommy would be a train wreck,” Opelka admitted, referencing their junior dorm days. “But he was definitely the most clean out of any guy in the dorms.”

Paul fired back, claiming Opelka’s cleanliness depended on timing. “If you caught him in between coming back from a trip and repacking, it looked bad,” Paul said, describing one visit to Opelka’s closet as walking into chaos.

There was, however, agreement on one point: Fritz might be the messiest of the trio.

While household harmony largely prevailed, there were moments of tension — particularly during competitive games.

One involved basketball. “We set rules where you play defense but you’re not fouling each other,” Paul explained. “You don’t want to get hurt.”

That didn’t last long. “I get a little competitive,” Paul admitted. “I was hacking a little bit, and he got pretty hot.”

The other near-incident dated back to their dorm days, involving a seemingly harmless foam ball bought during a grocery run. “He bought this little yellow foam ball and was just pelting people with it,” Opelka recalled. “He hit me so hard in the ear one time — it was ringing. I’d never wanted to hit somebody harder in my life.”

Paul laughed: “I was clocking people with that thing.”

Now both established professionals, the question turned hypothetical: would Paul’s partner, Paige Lorenze, be willing to take Opelka in the way Opelka once took Paul in? “I think Reilly would be one of the only people she’d let come into the house,” Paul said. “She loves Reilly.”

But there would be limits. “It would not last two years,” he added. Johnson summed it up best: “That’s a true sign of a friendship right there.”

From junior dorm rooms to Las Vegas exhibition lights, Paul and Opelka’s dynamic remains unchanged — competitive, occasionally chaotic, but grounded in a friendship that has outlasted nearly everything else on tour.