"Nadal is the greatest, he'll always be my favourite" says Reilly Opelka

Opelka and Nadal don't share a similar tennis profile as players as the American's and Spaniard's game could not differ more but for Opelka Nadal always was the greatest. Opelka has the utmost respect for Nadal whom he called his hero recently. Opelka had a chance to play Nadal in Rome and back then he said:

“He was always my favourite player growing up, I dressed up as him twice on Halloween, so facing a legend like him is amazing. He wanted to go out and win, but the respect I feel for him was a lot – I think it happens to all of us."

Opelka further said:

“I have the utmost respect for Rafa, he is the greatest, he was my favourite player and always will be. But the day we played, I went on court and tried to beat him.”

For Opelka the difference in playstyles between him and Nadal is something he can't handle. When he faced him in more he said:

“With my style of play, unfortunately, there wasn’t much to do. The simple fact of facing Rafa was already great, he is the greatest and he was playing on his court."