Reilly Opelka learns important lesson in Australian Open 1R win

Reilly Opelka had a very good start to the 2025 season, and it continued at the Australian Open where he made a winning start by beating Gauthier Onclin in four sets. It wasn’t a perfect match by any means because Opelka lost the opening set. He was 0-2 down in the tiebreak of the second set and also 0-2 down at the start of the 3rd set, but the American was able to survive all of that and win the match in four sets.

There was a lot said after the match by Opelka, who admitted that the reason it took him a while to find his rhythm was mostly due to him completely mismanaging his day before the match. A six-hour rain delay didn’t help, but it's a lesson to be learned.

"I haven't played many slam matches, so I kind of mismanaged my day. Obviously, it's not easy when you have a six-hour delay like that. I woke up at 6 am expecting to play at 12:30, so lesson to be learned for the future," Opelka said during his on-court interview.

He'll need to do a much better job in the next round because he's playing Tomas Machac, and that'll be very tough considering how well the Czech player is playing right now.

"I'm doing okay" - Reilly Opelka talks about his back issue

Starting the 2025 Australian Open with a win is a great thing for Opelka, whose participation at the event wasn’t in question but was under a watchful eye. He retired only a few games into his match against Jiri Lehecka at the Brisbane event.

That was a final too, so the decision wasn’t taken lightly, but a back issue was bothering him, and he retired to give himself time to recover for this one. Asked about his back following the win over Onclin, Opelka briefly commented that he's doing okay because it’s not anything major or serious, though he does hope to make it to Wednesday, which would require him to beat Machac.

"I'm doing okay. I've had it pretty lightly, so I was able to compete. We'll cross the next bridge when we get there," - Opelka on his back

The looming matchup with Machac looks to be a very tricky one because not only is Machac playing well, it's also the first time they’re going to meet on the court. As unique as Opelka's style is, Machac isn't one you get used to easily either.