American Reilly Opelka has been one of the most important star tennis players in recent years. The experienced tennis player has recently been sidelined due to physical issues and Reilly hasn’t played in a tournament since the last Citi Open 2022.
Opelka was, along with Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver, one of the Laver Cup commentators and took on a new role. In recent hours, Opelka has been the star of a curious social confrontation in which he was forced to “virtually step out onto the court” to defend his friend and compatriot Frances Tiafoe.
Frances Tiafoe teamed up with Jack Sock in the doubles match against Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, a match that went down in history as the Swiss legend’s last match on a tennis court.
The two Americans won the match and were then attacked by many controversies.
Tiafoe and Sock received incredible accusations even for their win, while others attacked Tiafoe for his excessively aggressive style: during the match, Tiafoe almost always aimed at the bodies of both opponents to take stock, a situation that the fans found it excessive and criticized it harshly.
After the Laver Cup game, some Page fans on social media got angry with Tiafoe and Opelka responded with disbelief and annoyance through various social posts.
As for the strong reactions about Tiafoe’s body shots, Opelka replied, “You can’t make this stuff up. I think for sure it’s a joke.” Social media users responded saying that they didn’t want Federer and Nadal to win at any cost, but neither did they want Sock and Tiafoe to get it by playing balls directly to the bodies of the two legends.
Rafa Nadal is a legend.
Rafael Nadal said he knew about Federer’s retirement long before it was announced, when the 41-year-old asked him about his participation in the Laver Cup.
Although Nadal did not confirm his participation in the competition, he said he guaranteed his presence in London even if he was not due to play. “He told me ten days before announcing it but I didn’t even know if he could play doubles, because of the knee.
We postponed the conversation a week later, and he also knew that given my situation, I can’t be away from home for long. The only thing I could say to him was ‘confirm that you’re going to play to manage everything, and be sure, I’ll be with you whether you play or not,'” he said.
