"Tournaments are destroying players" - Reilly Opelka attacks tennis establishment for Japan Open 2022 prize money, blames ATP for systematically suppressing player compensation

American tennis professional Reilly Opelka ripped the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) to pieces following the end of the 2022 Japan Open, lamenting about the lack of proper player compensation in the sport. The American took to Twitter to post a series of tweets nitpicking about the ATP's irregular prize money scheme, claiming it does not do justice to the winners' hard work.

To start off with, Reilly Opelka was amused to find that the finalists of the ATP 500 event in Tokyo were being paid less than in 2018.

"So let me get this straight. My boys battle it out today in the final of Tokyo in front of a packed house, one of the biggest events on @atptour and they are playing for LESS $ than the guys in 2018?"

On the same note, Reilly Opelka added how despite the revenue generated from sponsorship, broadcast and all that has gone up, while player compensation is still not appropriate with respect to the rise in income.

"The systematic suppression of player compensation is real. U can say whatever you want about the past 4 year period but sponsorship, data, broadcast, gambling revenues have all gone up, plus sky rocketing sanction values. And it is beyond disproportionate to player compensation," Opelka added.

The American further clarified that he was attacking the ATP not for their prize money distribution but for how the tennis establishment receives all the money that is generated by the players and doesn't use it to their benefit in a fair manner.

"My argument has never been about the distribution of prize money. Its about the totality of prize money at every level and how it is fundamentally suppressed insuring the sports suits benefit disproportionally from our talent."

Reilly Opelka did not mince his words when he was hit with criticism from fans online, stating that he was trying to stop players from being taken advantage of and that he did not care about gaining more followers by conforming to the popular opinion.

"Im just keeping it real, someones gotta do it otherwise players will continue to be taken advantage of. I didnt join twitter to make fans. If I did I would just tweet about wearing masks and being vaxxed and have all the tennis twitter love in the world," Reilly Opelka wrote in his tweet.

Reilly Opelka continued his attack by taking a dig at the "so-called partnership" between the ATP and the players it claims to protect. The American mentioned how the Western and Southern Open was sold by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) for a rumored value of $300 million, while players were being paid only a pittance in comparison. He went as far as to add that the organization was stealing money from all the tennis players.

"Tournaments are destroying players in this so called partnership. They are selling for $300-$400M and prize money at a lot of events are flat or have gone backwards. Totally unacceptable, but I guess if you continue to allow people to steal from you,“players”are really to blame."

"The more I’ve gotten into fashion and art, the more I’ve come to despise some things about tennis" - Reilly Opelka

2021 US Open - Day 4

In a recent interview with GQ at Paris Fashion Week, Reilly Opelka reflected on how his involvement in fashion and art had him "despise" some things about tennis, especially how rooted in tradition and unwelcoming of modern ideas it was.

"I’ve come to hate tradition. And, obviously, tennis is all tradition. Look at Wimbledon—that’s what it is. And it’s not for me. The more I’ve gotten into fashion and art, the more I’ve come to despise some things about tennis," said Opelka.