Professional career
2019: First ATP title, top 50 debut
At the Australian Open, Opelka upset compatriot and ninth seed John Isner in the first round. This was the second top 10 win of his career. [14] In February, Opelka again defeated Isner, saving six match points, en route to his first ATP title at the New York Open. At Wimbledon in July, he achieved his best Grand Slam result to date, reaching the tournament's third round and defeating Stan Wawrinka in the process. Over the summer and fall, he reached the semifinals of tournaments in Atlanta, Tokyo, and Basel. In November, he participated in the Davis Cup Finals for the United States, ultimately losing both his rubbers. He finished the season ranked 36th in the world.
2021: Masters 1000 final, top 20 debut
Opelka chose not to defend his Delray Beach title. Instead, he began the season at the Great Ocean Road Open as the sixth seed, but lost to Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round. At the Australian Open, he beat Lu Yen-hsun before losing to 27th seed Taylor Fritz, despite holding match points in the fourth set.
In Rome, Opelka beat Richard Gasquet, Lorenzo Musetti, Aslan Karatsev and Federico Delbonis to reach his first Masters semifinal, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. [16]
Seeded 32nd at the French Open, Opelka beat clay-court specialists Andrej Martin and Jaume Munar to reach the third round, his best showing at this Grand Slam event, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev. [17]
Partnering with Jannik Sinner, Opelka won his first doubles title at the Atlanta Open. The pair defeated Steve Johnson and Jordan Thompson in the final. [18] As a result, he entered the top 100 in doubles at No. 89 on 2 August 2021. At the same tournament in singles he fell in the quarterfinals to Taylor Fritz. [19]
At the Canada Masters in Toronto, Opelka reached his second Masters 1000 semifinal by defeating Nick Kyrgios, [20] 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, Lloyd Harris and 10th seed Roberto Bautista Agut. [21] He then upset 3rd seed and world No. 3, Stefanos Tsitsipas, to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final. It was also his first win over a top 5 player. [22] Opelka would lose to 1st seed and world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the final. [23] With this successful run, he entered the top 25 in the ATP singles rankings for the first time at world No. 23 on August 16, 2021. [24]
At the US Open, Opelka reached the fourth round of a Major for the first time in his career. There, he lost to Lloyd Harris in four sets. [25] From this run, he cracked the top 20 in the ATP singles rankings for the first time at world No. 19 on September 13, 2021. [26]
2022: Third and Fourth ATP titles, hiatus
At the 2022 Australian Open, Opelka reached the third round, where he lost to Denis Shapovalov. [27] At the inaugural edition of the Dallas Open, Opelka won his third singles title after defeating Jenson Brooksby. [28] In the semifinals, he defeated fellow American John Isner 7–6(9–7), 7–6(24–22). The 46-point tiebreak in the second set was the longest-ever at the ATP Tour level. [29] At the 2022 Delray Beach Open, Opelka reached his second final in as many weeks, losing to Cameron Norrie. [30] As a result, he reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 18 on February 21, 2022, and world No. 17 a week later.
At the Indian Wells Open, Opelka reached the fourth round for the first time in his career at this Masters where he lost to fourth seed Rafael Nadal. [31] At the 2022 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Opelka won his second title of the year and fourth of his career, defeating compatriot John Isner in what was the tallest ATP Tour final in the Open Era. [32] At the Madrid Open Opelka lost to Sebastian Korda. The Italian Open saw a defeat to Stan Wawrinka, and at the 2022 French Open to Filip Krajinović, with all losses being in the first round.
2023-25: Return to Top 100, 100th win, ATP final
At the end of October 2023, Opelka returned to the ATP Challenger Tour at the 2023 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger after close to a year and a half of hiatus primarily due to a wrist injury, [33] defeating Tennys Sandgren in straight sets in the first round. However, he retired in the second round.
After another 8 months hiatus, Opelka returned in mid July 2024 to the ATP Tour with a wildcard main draw entry into the 2024 Hall of Fame Open and defeated Constant Lestienne in three sets in the opening round to secure his first victory at that level for two years. [34] Opelka continued his comeback with a victory over top seed Adrian Mannarino in round two. [35] In the quarterfinals he defeated Mackenzie McDonald in three sets to become the lowest ranked player in history to make an ATP level semifinal [36] [37] where his run came to an end against Alex Michelsen. [38] As a result he moved more than 750 positions up into the top 430 on July 22, 2024. Ranked No. 371, he received main draw wildcards for the Washington Open where he reached the second round, and for the Cincinnati Open.
Opelka reached his first final since Houston in 2022 at the 2025 Brisbane International with an upset over top seed Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals (his eighth top-10 win), [39] [40] and then over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, recording his 100th career win and returning to the top 200 in the rankings to world No. 171. [41] [42] He was the second lowest-ranked player to defeat Djokovic after Filip Krajinovic. [43] He was forced to retire in the final against Jiří Lehečka, due to back issues. [44]
Despite these injury concerns, Opelka made a victorious start at the 2025 Australian Open, defeating Belgian Gauthier Onclin. [1] He lost to Tomáš Macháč in five sets in the second round. [45]
At the 2025 Libéma Open, Opelka reached the semifinals as a lucky loser, defeating top seed Daniil Medvedev, after three consecutive double faults from the Russian in the last three service points of the deciding tiebreak. He was the second lucky loser to advance to the 's-Hertogenbosch semifinals after Rinky Hijikata in 2023. [46]
United States 
