Opelka lashes out at tennis journalist for criticizing Novak Djokovic

Tuesday, 03 May 2022 at 02:30

American tennis star Reilly Opelka is known for strongly voicing his opinions, and the Michigan native did not hold back when lashing out at renown tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg for his comments about Novak Djokovic.

Rothenberg made a statement regarding Djokovic's actions at the recent Belgrade Open, where the Serbian tossed his racket in anger and narrowly missed a ball kid. Rothenberg took to Twitter, saying "On Djokovic, good news is he got lots of time on court this week after depriving himself of it, playing for over 10 hours in his four matches. Bad news is that he-like others on ATP-still has a real problem with launching reckless projectiles in anger that hit/nearly hit folks.”

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This did not sit well with Opelka, who has already expressed his dislike for members of the media. The World No.17 came to Djokovic's defense, while also taking a shot at Rothenberg.

“The good news here, is you lose so much credibility every time you spread misinformation," wrote Opelka. "The bad news is, you don’t face any consequences (revoking of media credential) for being incredibly biased and blatantly lying.”

Opelka is currently competing at the Madrid Open, where he will face compatriot Sebastian Korda in the opening round.

Arthur Ajayi

Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.

As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.

With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.

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