Home » Reilly Opelka played excellently against Rafael Nadal on slow, hard courts, according to ex-Kevin Anderson coach

Neville Godwin, the coach, believes that Reilly Opelka has what it takes to rank among the top ten players, and that the American’s performance against Rafael Nadal earlier this year supports that opinion. Opelka, currently rated 17th in the world, reached his present position in late February.

Kevin Anderson, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, had worked for four years with South African coach Godwin. According to Godwin on the Control the Controllables podcast, “He most definitely can be a top 10 player.”

“He has a very intimidating style of tennis to play against. That is terrifying when he is in the right state of mind and there is no one on any actual surface.”

Opelka competed admirably against Nadal, according to Godwin

In the Indian Wells Masters round of 16, Opelka lost to Nadal in straight sets in March.

But Nadal‘s victory over Opelka at 7-6 (1) 7-6 wasn’t all that simple (4). Godwin stated, “He faced Nadal in Indian Wells.” “We were discussing how good he could be after he played a tremendous match, lost 7-6 7-6, and had a chance to win a set after that on the slowest hard court imaginable. I remarked, “I think he will honestly be at his very best in 18 months to two years time.”

That’s about being better, maturing, growing, and learning the trade.” Opelka has won two events this year, Dallas and Houston, making him a four-time ATP winner. Godwin asserts that Opelka is dedicated to training.

Godwin replied, “I mean, he works extremely hard. “I use this last week as an example. He’s done two or three weight sessions in preparation for the US season, and he lifts a lot of weight. He would have exercised on the track yesterday, practiced footwork twice this week, worked on his upper body strength, and played tennis.”