Opelka to win Wimbledon 2019?

[Atennisone]

Is Tennis TV not showing Opelka? That match would be so popular for many, no?

 

[Atennisone]

Opelka plays incredible return point to make Sandgren DF and Opelka serves for the first set.

 

[Atennisone]

Opelka bagels

 

[IowaGuy]

Opelka to play Sandgren soon, will he break a 3-set ace record? I belive his record is 43 aces and the record is 45.

Well,

He was only 37 short of the record

 

[bjk]

Opelka is indestructible. He demolishes Sandgren, a 80% server, 6-4 6-0. Imagine how good he'll be in a couple years. He could hold at 95% and break at 15%.

 

[IowaGuy]

Opelka is indestructible. He demolishes Sandgren, a 80% server, 6-4 6-0. Imagine how good he'll be in a couple years. He could hold at 95% and break at 15%.

I believe he's currently the career leader in average aces/match:

https://www.atptour.com/en/stats/le...er&surface=all&versusRank=all&formerNo1=false

 

[bjk]

They're going to have to change the rules of the sport for this one guy. He's going to change the sport.

 

[davced1]

Funny how Opelka is basically an Isner clone but some people seem to think he will have a more succesful career, I don't get the hype.

 

[IowaGuy]

They're going to have to change the rules of the sport for this one guy. He's going to change the sport.

Very tall guys tend to be injury-prone...

 

[bjk]

Isner was still in college at Opelka's age. Isner didn't win his first title until he was 25. RO is 21. He's far ahead of Isner.

 

[bjk]

Very tall guys tend to be injury-prone...

Not if they're skinny. Isner, Karlovic and Anderson aren't. Raonic, Phillipousis, etc were. It depends.

 

[IowaGuy]

Not if they're skinny. Isner, Karlovic and Anderson aren't. Raonic, Phillipousis, etc were. It depends.

Archetype of injury-free mobility!

 

[bjk]

He's played 640 matches. He's as reliable as a Honda Accord.

 

[EloQuent]

Opelka bagels

wat

 

[EloQuent]

Funny how Opelka is basically an Isner clone but some people seem to think he will have a more succesful career, I don't get the hype.

I think the hype is mainly sarcastic

 

[Freddy Cat]

I've never seen someone look so rigid and tense in their shots as Opelka.

 

[mental midget]

bit of a stretch, no pun intended. however gotta give him props, he’s playing well and seems to have a...return, which is promising. won a 6-0 set against sandgren, who has a pretty good delivery. and for a giant at least he moves...well? let’s see how he does next couple weeks.

 

[George Turner]

Have Karlovic or Isner ever recorded a bagel in professional tennis?

 

[Im(moral) Winner]

Have Karlovic or Isner ever recorded a bagel in professional tennis?

http://www.tennisabstract.com/cgi-bin/player.cgi?p=IvoKarlovic&f=ACareerqqQ7
http://www.tennisabstract.com/cgi-bin/player.cgi?p=JohnIsner&f=ACareerqqQ7

 

[Atennisone]

Opelka will now upset del Potro soon when they play, excited to see if Del Potro can hold his serve against Reily Bagel

 

[antonmartin]

Saw Opelka in the NY Open final. While I don't think he's a servebot (he can move), he doesn't leave the baseline and makes a lot of bad contact on his strokes. If he had a normal serve he wouldn't be in the Top 100. If he can diversify his ground game as well as Isner did, then he'll be better than Isner because of the better mobility.

 

[Druss]

Opelka odds at winning Wimbledon are like 10,000:1. Good luck to anyone who places a bet on him winning.

 

[antonmartin]

Yeah I can’t tell if this is an irony thread or not...he’s not that good...

 

[Mainad]

They're going to have to change the rules of the sport for this one guy. He's going to change the sport.

If he follows in Isner's footsteps, that may well be the case. It was Isner after all who forced Wimbledon to introduce final set tie-breaks!

 

[reaper]

Saw Opelka in the NY Open final. While I don't think he's a servebot (he can move), he doesn't leave the baseline and makes a lot of bad contact on his strokes. If he had a normal serve he wouldn't be in the Top 100. If he can diversify his ground game as well as Isner did, then he'll be better than Isner because of the better mobility.

He's already beaten Isner twice this year in all tie break matches. Opelka's ranking might be lower but he seems to be playing as well as him.

 

[Red Rick]

I'd say let him get into double digits in terms of percentage of return games won, before we proclaim him the favorite anywhere
He's at 9, 9 and 7 (2019) percent return games won in the last 3 years in his ATP matches. And his TB record is 19-20, so it's not like he's winning every single TB either.

All that said, nice troll thread OP ;-)

This is gonna be the first full season for Opelka on the main Tour. I think it's reasonable he'll develop and get better. That being said, he will also start running into better opponents more frequently, and I'm pretty sure Del Potro tonight is the first top 10 opponent other than Isner.

He'll never get close to 20% return games won (I hope), but going something like 92%/12% would already put him comfortably ahead of Isner I think. Also, his TB% should increase as his %points won increases.

 

[Red Rick]

He just needs to play a semi focused Tomic and he'll get it done no problem

You mean Tomic who holds serve for 2 sets?

He needs to do it in 2 then, or tank a tiebreak

 

[bjk]

Opelka is already at 95% hold percentage. He's holding at 95% in 2019. That includes his incredible run at NYO but still, he's already there. His break % is just 7% but it was 9% last year and he can probably bump it up to 10-12%. He's going to be unbeatable. His backhand is already better than Isner and he's going to reach the point where there is no safe side. He was hitting DTL backhand winners repeatedly in his matches in NY.

 

[bjk]

Isner managed 11% break at his peak, Opelka should do a little better. Isner started out at 67% first serve percentage, got it up to 71%. Opelka is at 67%, he can probably get it up to 71% also.

 

[MajesticTennisManiac]

Opelka wins 75 % of his matches against top-10 players.

 

[bjk]

The difference between Young Opelka and Young Isner is that Opelka's serve is a little worse (61% first serve vs. Isner at 67%) but his second serve is much better (57% vs 51%), suggesting that Opelka is much better after the serve. If Opelka can maintain the higher 1st serve % he showed in NY, combined with his better performance on 2nd serves, he will soon surpass Young Isner and current Isner.

 

[Deleted member 735320]

Funny how Opelka is basically an Isner clone but some people seem to think he will have a more succesful career, I don't get the hype.

Amen. Unless Richard Williams sounds off that he sees something in this clown I don't get the hype either.

 

[antonmartin]

Del Porto showing him how a big man is supposed to play right now

 

[BeatlesFan]

He’s 6’11, he’s not winning majors with that height.

 

[EloQuent]

I noticed that Smiley's ace count dropped off dramatically from NYO to Delray. Wonder why - conditions? Or just tired.

 

[IowaGuy]

I noticed that Smiley's ace count dropped off dramatically from NYO to Delray. Wonder why - conditions? Or just tired.

Wait till he starts playing the clay circuit if you want to see a dropoff in aces

 

[IowaGuy]

Del Porto showing him how a big man is supposed to play right now

And DelPo not exactly the best returner on the tour.

I think the stud top-20 returners will put Opelka in his place (hopefully).

Basically, if you can neutralize his serve with a block return (like DelPo did), you can have the advantage in the ensuing rally from the baseline...

 

[George Turner]

And DelPo not exactly the best returner on the tour.

I think the stud top-20 returners will put Opelka in his place (hopefully).

Basically, if you can neutralize his serve with a block return (like DelPo did), you can have the advantage in the ensuing rally from the baseline...

Reilly the Smiley has yet to beat a player of Del Possums calibre and has little to no experience playing them. Before this season most of his matches were on the challenger circuit. Was asking alot for him to win this one.

He'll learn to get wins over them.

 

[IowaGuy]

Reilly the Smiley has yet to beat a player of Del Possums calibre and has little to no experience playing them. Before this season most of his matches were on the challenger circuit. Was asking alot for him to win this one.

He'll learn to get wins over them.

Opelka only won 38% of his 2nd serve points against DelPo.

Given Opelka's lack of mobility, I can't see that number improving much against other top-20 opponents who return well such as Djok, Rafa, Zverev, Thiem, Nishikori, Khak, Tsit, Medvedev, RBA, Schwartzman, etc...

Basically if they can block back his 2nd serve deep in the court, they have the advantage in the point...

 

[DonDiego]

Considering Isner has a 3-1 record against Wawrinka, Opelka has a chance to move forward (if he's Isner clone).

 

[KineticChain]

i honestly think opelka will get around 15-20 slams in the next 2 or 3 years

 

[Lleytonstation]

i honestly think opelka will get around 15-20 slams in the next 2 or 3 years

More like 2-3 slams over the next 15-20 years.

 

[Lew II]

We need faster surfaces to help poor Opelka to servebot his way to Wimbledon title.

 

[Lleytonstation]

We need faster surfaces

You said it, not me.

 

[Luka888]

lol. I want to see him playing against Djokovic. The best server against the best ROS player. Would be kinda cool.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

I was at Isner/Opelka. Most insane match I've ever seen.
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...pelka-most-insane-match-ive-ever-seen.637648/

 

[Shaolin]

lol. I want to see him playing against Djokovic. The best server against the best ROS player. Would be kinda cool.

As much as I can't stand Oafpelka, that would be a fun match to see.

 

[I Am Finnish]

Huh? ABZ brigade?

A cult

 

[antonmartin]

Well...he made 3R...

 

[smoledman]

Opelka can just bot his way to the title and he doesn't have any of the mental baggage of Isner/Anderson.