Reilly Opelka with all round blow against tennis journalists and mixed doubles
In an interview with "Inside Tennis",Reilly Opelka hit the tennis journalists and the mixed doubles all round.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Oct 11, 2021, 05:32 am
Reilly Opelka is a man of clear words. But even the words of the 24-year-old have never been as clear as in the most recent interview with "Inside Tennis". There is one of the topics "tennis journalism", which the American took on extremely critically. "These people are terrible - there are some bad journalists. There are those who just criticize. They just look for the negative. [They are] people who don't know anything about tennis. I think we have the worst media out of all sports , quite frankly, "said the world number 20.
What does Opelka base his statement on? Primarily on the experience at two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments this year: "I'm in the final of Toronto and the boys ask me:" What's going on with American tennis? Why are there no American players in the top 30? "Same in Rome: I'm in the semi-finals and they think the negative is. I'm 23 years old and I play against Rafa. Things are fine. I'm in the final in Toronto and we're talking about Americans not winning Grand Slams? " He also couldn't understand the constant criticism of the country's long-standing number one, John Isner.
Although Opelka restricted the fact that there would certainly be good tennis journalists, he hadn't spoken to anyone yet. Ultimately, the American, whose dream is to win a major tournament, came back to his original thesis: "The media are terrible in our sport. They hold back our sport, it really is."
Opelka on Indian Wells: "I hate it"
On the other hand, there was also the mixed doubles, which Opelka worked on. "We have a journalist who says:" There are no mixed doubles at the French Open this year. That's what makes a Grand Slam a Grand Slam. "How, really? Are you kidding? There shouldn't be mixed doubles. You should get rid of it completely. You don't sell tickets with that. Nobody cares , Nobody is watching or want to see it. Just get rid of it and put all the money into qualifying the women and men. Take care of your people who actually have the potential to sell tickets. That just shocks me. "
Opelka was also shocked that he had to meet so many sponsorship obligations at the ATP Masters 1000 event currently taking place in Indian Wells. "Tennis is secondary. I hate it," said the 24-year-old. The US-American, who was ranked 15th, completed his first task in the Californian desert with a two-set win over Taro Daniel - Opelka will meet Grigor Dimitrov on Monday.
Here the single tableau in Indian Wells
iwmap