‘Idiot’ remark and $90,000 fine: Reilly Opelka shares details about cost of discipline woes

Reilly Opelka has had his share of difficulties on the court over the course of his career. The 27-year-old has had fitness concerns which halted his progress despite starting brightly. Opelka did not play at the highest level for more than one year between 2022 and 2023 because of a wrist injury.

Since he returned to the court at the end of the 2023 season, he has been trying to return to his very best, but so far, it has proven to be a difficult task. Not only have good results been hard to come by for Opelka, but it seems that he is also struggling with the disciplinary issues. Opelka, in a post on his social media platform Instagram, shared a snapshot of him being fined $90,000 recently.

Interestingly, one of the incidents where he was fined was for calling a chair umpire an ‘idiot’. Recently, Opelka got into another exchange of words with the chair umpire during the third round of the ongoing Cincinnati Open, where he lost to Argentina’s Francisco Comesana with a score of 6-7, 6-4, 7-5.

The incident took place right after the second set when Comesana decided to go for a toilet break to change his outfit. Opelka, who was frustrated with his performance in the second set after winning the first, was furious and complained to the chair umpire by saying: “How many breaks will this guy get? The last time I had a break that long I got fined 150K.”

Those comments did not help Opelka as he came second-best in the third set as well and was eventually knocked out of the ongoing ATP 1000 event. Opelka’s lack of discipline ended up costing him on the day when he committed 57 unforced errors, 30 more than Comesana. Despite the result, Opelka will be relatively happy with his performance in the competition, which has helped him gain eight spots in the ATP rankings, and he is now placed on the 63rd spot.

Overall, Opelka is having a decent season. In 37 matches, he has won 21 and lost just 16. Opelka’s best performance in 2025 came back in January, where he finished as the runner-up at the Brisbane International. He was forced to retire in the final against the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka in the first set when he was trailing 4-1.

At the Grand Slams, however, Opelka has found it hard to achieve consistent success. At the Australian Open, Opelka lost to Tomas Machac in a five-set thriller with a score of 3-6, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. At the French Open in May, Opelka’s journey once again ended in the second round as he lost to Argentina’s Mariano Navone in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 7-6, 6-3. Opelka’s journey at Wimbledon was a similar one as he crashed out after losing in the round of 64 to fellow American Brandon Nakashima with a score of 7-5, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3.

Opelka’s next assignment will be the US Open. The 27-year-old is taking part in two events at the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year. Opelka will partner with the former world number one Venus Williams in the mixed doubles event, which will begin a few days before the main round of the competition. Opelka’s record while playing at the Flashing Meadows is not a great one. His best run came in the 2021 edition, where he was knocked out after losing in the fourth round to South Africa’s Lloyd Harris with a score of 6-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3. Last year, Opelka’s journey at the mega-event was cut short as he was knocked out after losing in the first round to Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti with a score of 7-6, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5.