Reilly Opelka: Big distance between players and it took tennis so long to return

After kicking off his Cincinnati Masters campaign with a win, rising American star Reilly Opelka wondered why it took tennis so long to return. 

Opelka, ranked at No. 39 in the world, handed a straight-set defeat to Great Britain's Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 to set up a second round meeting against either Diego Schwartzman or Casper Ruud.

"For a long while I wasn’t mentally sharp at all, because we had no idea when we’d get to play again," he told Flagler Live, as quoted on tennis.com. "I was just so not motivated, because we had no idea if we’d play again this year, or when."

"I’m super excited we actually have, like, a real schedule finally. We’re playing these two tournaments in New York, then onto the clay and Europe, then some indoor tournaments.

"I think I was just being honest, because there was no communication, no information at all given to us players.

Opelka suggests tennis is one of safest sports to play during the pandemic 

"Everyone else came back before us, when we’re... standing 20 feet away from the person we’re playing. I don’t know why it took tennis so long to return," Opelka acknowledged.

Meanwhile, 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas admitted he doubted tennis would resume this year.

"I was worried about the virus at first. Despite all of the regulations that US Open set from early on, I still felt it could be unsecure to travel to the U.S. So far it has been proven wrong of what I initially thought," Tsitsipas said.

"At the same time I personally didn't think there are going to be any tournaments this year. I found it very difficult due to the crisis that we are facing right now. For me, tennis was the least important thing at that moment. Just being able to spend time with your family, not having any chances of spreading the virus if you're positive, of course, yeah, it shouldn't have been this way.

"Well, I thought, again, tennis was not number one priority at that moment. After I spoke to most of the ATP players, after that conversation and everything, I found it secure and safe to travel to the U.S. and that's why I did so. Plus I miss competing a lot. I felt like if they think it's safe for us to play, I should just go and try it out. They know better than I do."

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