Taylor Fritz's girlfriend Morgan Riddle, Ben Shelton, and Frances Tiafoe show their support for Novak Djokovic-conqueror Reilly Opelka

Novak Djokovic-conqueror Reilly Opelka received encouraging messages from Taylor Fritz's girlfriend Morgan Riddle, Ben Shelton, and Frances Tiafoe after his runner-up finish at the 2025 Brisbane International. Opelka was absent from the circuit for nearly two years due to hip and wrist injuries and made a comeback to the court last year at the 2024 Hall of Fame Open in Newport.

Opelka kicked off his 2025 season at the Brisbane International where he used his protected ranking to secure a spot in the main draw. He started strong by defeating Federico Agustin Gomez 7-5, 6-4 and Matteo Arnaldi 7-6(9), 7-6(4) in the first and second rounds respectively.

In the quarterfinals, the former World No. 17 caused a major upset after taking down top seed Novak Djokovic 7-6(6), 6-3. He then defeated Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-3, 7-6(4) in the semifinals. He failed to capture the Brisbane International title as he was forced to retire early in the first set during the final match against Jiri Lehecka due to a back injury.

Following his campaign in Queensland, Reilly Opelka took to social media to share a series of photos of himself at the ATP 250 hardcourt tournament, including a photo with Djokovic.

“Its a start 🤍 🇦🇺 ," Opelka captioned his Instagram post.

Reacting to Opelka's runner-up run at the Brisbane International, Taylor Fritz's girlfriend Morgan Riddle, Ben Shelton, and Frances Tiafoe commented:

“👏🏼 🥳 ," Morgan RIddle commented.

“📈 ," Shelton commented.

“Big week," Frances Tiafoe wrote.

Screen grab of Ben Shelton, Morgan Riddle & Frances Tiafoe's comments [Image Source: Instagram]

Following his campaign in Queensland, Reilly Opelka was scheduled to compete at the 2025 ASB Classic but had to withdraw due to the back injury, with lucky loser Adrian Mannarino taking his place.

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Reilly Opelka & Frances Tiafoe next expected to compete at Australian Open 2025, Ben Shelton to begin his season at ASB Classic

Reilly Opelka at the 2025 Brisbane International [Source: Getty]

Reilly Opelka and Frances Tiafoe are next expected to compete at the 2025 Australian Open which is scheduled to run from January 12 to January 26, 2025.

Opelka's most successful run at the Melbourne Major was in 2022 when he reached the third round. He was seeded 23rd in the tournament and defeated Kevin Anderson and Dominik Koepfer in the first and second rounds respectively before being eliminated by 14th seed Denis Shapovalov in the third round.

On the other hand, Tiafoe's best performance at the Australian Open was reaching the quarterfinals in 2019. He defeated qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran, fifth seed Kevin Anderson, Andreas Seppi, and 20th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the first four rounds before succumbing to the second seed and eventual runner-up, Rafael Nadal, in the quarterfinals.

Ben Shelton will kick off his 2025 season at the ASB Classic. He is the top seed in the tournament and will start his campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye and will face either Alexandre Muller or Jakub Mensik in his opening match.

In 2024, Shelton reached the semifinals of the ATP 250 hardcourt tournament in Auckland before being defeated by eventual runner-up Taro Daniel.