Reilly Opelka - disguised as Rafael Nadal for Halloween
Reilly Opelka made a curious confession on the sidelines of the ATP 500 event in Washington. The American admitted to having dressed up twice as his great idol for Halloween. As Rafael Nadal .
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Aug 06, 2021, 10:50 am
The crowd of players on the ATP tour who welcome a certain Rafael Nadal on the sand should be extremely manageable. A man who would by no means belong to this group of players purely because of his playing style is the American serving giant Reilly Opelka. But the 23-year-old, he enjoyed meeting the Mallorcan in Rome this year.
Simply because the bull from Manacor has always been the great role model of the 23-year-old, as he assured on the sidelines of the ATP 500 event in Washington. "Just the fact that I was up against Rafa was great, he is the greatest and he played on his pitch. He was always my favorite player when I was growing up," said Opelka in the American capital.
Opelka: "There was great respect"
The soft spot for the king of the clay court, he showed curious excesses in the meantime, as Opelka revealed at the ATP 500 event: "I dressed up as him twice on Halloween and to compete against a legend like him is unbelievable. He wanted to go out and win but the respect I have for him has been great, I think it happens to all of us. We grew up idolizing these players, but it's another thing to take the pitch against them. "
But this respect has now come to an end, on the pitch you would be competing with each other: "A line has to be drawn on these questions. I have the greatest respect for Rafa, he is the greatest, he was my favorite player and always will be but the day we played I went out and tried to beat him. "
Nadal struggles against Sock, fails at Lloyd
There will definitely not be a re-match with the Spaniard in Washington for the 23-year-old. Both Opelka and Nadal - who already had to fight Jack Sock in round two - failed at the ATP 500 event on Friday night.
#VIDEO#