Opelka: "Novak Djokovic's game makes him impossible to break"

With his 211 cm, Reilly Opelka is the tallest tennis player in history, on an equal footing with the Croatian Ivo Karlović. Opelka has a very powerful service, which reaches 235 km/h. Like many of the players of his size, he has the forehand as his strength and the mobility as a weak point.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic has gradually enhanced his service game in recent years. In 2017, the Serbian made a bold decision to go back to his old serve and trash his new service motion after minor surgery on his right elbow. Hence he once again revamped his service motion in order to put less pressure on his elbow.

Opelka believes it his ‘baseline’ game that supports his serve. “I think it’s more so because of everything else in his game. He does serve very well. But he’s breaking serve more than 30 percent of the time, which is ridiculous,” Opelka said in an interview with ATPTour.com. “Obviously when you give him the first strike of the ball, it’s going to be even higher. He does serve well and it’s not talked about. But it’s really the rest of his game that makes him impossible to break,” he added.

Opelka steps on the tennis court donning New Balance apparel. However, he’d much rather wear his own style off the court. Opelka has always had an admirable style. “One thousand percent, I don’t want to blend in,” Opelka told Tennis.com. “I’m not big on brand names, I’m not into Supreme or the Gucci print shorts and shirts.”

“If I see something from one of those brands I like, that’s where the Mulch guys will go in and custom make it for me. That way I have a contribution toward my clothing. I’m not trying to pay $1,000 for a sticker that everyone else has,” he concluded.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3ejoRKL