17 year old American Reilly Opelka just won the junior Wimbledon boys title, and one thing is clear: he better
get used to being compared to fellow American John Isner. Like Isner, Opelka is over 6'9" and possesses
an extremely powerful (and high bouncing) serve. But where Isner has been limited by
deficiencies in other areas of his game, it looks like Opelka may be the player
we hoped Isner could develop into.
As was evident during the Wimbledon
boys final, Opelka has much more than just a big serve to offer. The junior world number four's backhand is
surprisingly good, though it shouldn't be such a surprise anytime an American
has a decent and technically sound backhand. He doesn't seem to have any trouble hitting strong
rally shots off that side, and seems comfortable going for backhand winners as
well. And while it's less of a surprise,
he's certainly no slouch off the
forehand side either. It's unlikely
movement will be the strength of anyone
as tall as Opelka, but he seemed to move pretty well for someone his height.
As has been said many times before, it's always risky to
predict pro success based on a player's junior career. The vast majority of junior grand slam
champions find little success in the pros, and only a select few make it big at
the next level. But given all the free
points Opelka should win from his serve combined with a solid ground game, it
looks like he's a much safer bet than many other junior prospects. Sure he'll have his growing pains as he
transitions to the pro tour, but in this day and age that's inevitable. More importantly, he has a game that should
translate well at the next level even if the results don't really show for a
couple more years. He also should be
able to avoid much of the pressure that comes with being the next big thing in
American men's tennis, as he's got about 6 other fellow American prospects to
share the attention with.
When watching Isner play, it's easy to imagine how much
success he'd be having if he were only slightly better in other areas of his
game. He's improved since he first came
on tour, but not to the degree many fans of American tennis had hoped. In a sport where the margins are so small, if
Isner's backhand, movement, hands, etc were just a few percentages better,
maybe he'd be a staple in the top 10 instead of the top 20. With the emergence of Opelka, we may not have
to wonder any longer. We may finally get
to see just how far a 6'10" serving machine can go when he's got the rest of the
game to back it up.
Not sure what you're basing the statement "The vast majority of junior grand slam champions find little success in the pros" on. This article has a more complete picture: http://lastwordonsports.com/2015/06/26/slam-junior-champion-future-tennis-pro-not-assured/
ReplyDeleteDidn't think that was really a controversial statement. Recent grand slam jr champs include Yuki Bhambri, Tiago Fernandes, Luke Saville, Tsung hua Yang, Daniel Berta, Agustin Velotti, Bjorn Fratengelo, Kimmer Copejans, Andrey Kuznetsov, Marton Fuscovics, Filip Peliwo, Oliver Golding, Brydan Klein, Uladzimir Ignatik, etc...None making any serious noise on the ATP Tour or showing signs of doing so.
DeleteDidn't see any reference to "recent" in that statement. And junior slam winners in that era include Tomic, Vesely, Kyrgios, Zverev, Rublev, Dimitrov, Sock and Coric. Just seems "vast majority" overstates your point.
DeleteFair enough.
Delete