"Tommy Paul was the ringleader" - Reilly Opelka makes hilarious revelations about his, Paul, and Taylor Fritz's escapades from junior years

American tennis player Reilly Opelka reacted to some throwback photos of him, Tommy Paul, and Taylor Fritz from their junior years. Opelka called Paul the 'ringleader' as a reaction to the picture of them watching a match at the Junior Davis Cup.

After playing at the ATP 500, Opelka withdrew from the rest of the 2022 season due to a persistent hip injury. Despite planning a comeback in February 2023, a wrist injury and surgeries postponed his return. Having competed at the 2023 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger, he was off the court until July 2024.

The 27-year-old recently competed at the 2024 US Open but faced defeat at the hands of Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the first round. In a recent interview, he relived some special memories with his fellow US Open compatriots, Tommy Paul, and Taylor Fritz, the latter having competed in the finals against Jannik Sinner.

An old picture, featuring the three with alphabets of 'USA' written on their chest, drew a hilarious reaction from Opelka, who called Paul the 'ringleader'.

"That was the Junior Davis Cup. We were just watching. There was like a younger guy playing and, again, this was probably led by Tommy. At that time, at that age, he was the ringleader, for sure," he recalled.

When a summer camp picture popped up featuring all three in vests, Opelka recalled how Paul got in trouble for a water balloon mischief. He said:

"Probably 2012 or 2013. We walked across the street in Boca and we bought some water balloons, which Tommy Paul was holding. And then Tommy filled up one of the water balloons with milk and dropped it on the summer camper's head and got in trouble. We didn't think anything through, man."

The trio trained together at the USTA base in Florida, where they honed their tennis skills and built foundations of friendship.

Reilly Opelka shared that his friendship with Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz 'naturally formed'

The three tennis players first met in their early teenage years and shifted from dormmates to best friends. Reilly Opelka talked about their bond and how they enjoyed their freedom, via ATP Tour.

"We first met when we were around 13 years old and we have been training together since then and we started hanging out then, so the relationships naturally formed...There are not many guys aged 13 who have this massive freedom and could do what we had. This is kind of what we had when we were living in the dorms," Opelka said.

Taylor Fritz, a late entry to the group, shared how they just hung out aimlessly after tennis practice and became really good friends on the way.

"I feel like that really brings people together, because there is not much to do after tennis. We all just were kind of hanging out, killing time together and we got on straight away. We just have become really good friends since then," he said.

Fritz was the 2024 US Open finalist but lost to the World No. 1 in straight sets.