The kid is hard to miss, and the inevitable John Isner comparisons already are getting old. But it’s unavoidable.
Reilly Opelka, 17 and already officially 6-foot-8 (at least – Zoo Tennis’s Colette Lewis tells us he admitted to 6-foot-10 on Saturday), has done more than Isner ever did at the junior level.
The Florida native won the Eddie Herr junior event in Bradenton, Fla. on Sunday, defeating another American prospect, Michael Mmoh, 6-4, 6-4 in the final. That’s two wins in his last two matches against Mmoh, a far more highly-touted junior (the first win came on Mmoh’s home turf in Maryland).
And, the cutest:
The best part about my trip in Bradenton was seeing @vicky_duval95 back on the tennis court!!
— Reilly Opelka (@ReillyOpelka) December 7, 2014
How tall is Opelka? Well, he grew four inches in 2013 alone. And a year ago, he was already 6-foot-8 after growing eight inches in 18 months. He’s had the injuries that come along with that. 
Here’s a side-by-side: Opelka at the U.S. Open this year, and Isner back in 2008, when he was already 23. 
It’s actually funny; facially, Opelka looks a little more like Isner’s friend and occasional doubles partner, Sam Querrey. 
So from now on, we’ll call him Reilly Quisner. Here’s a Facebook pic of the two a year ago – Opelka has cleaned up his ‘do since then.
As a junior, Isner peaked at No. 93 in the rankings. In fact, he didn’t even play all that much at the top ITF level, and what little success he did have came at American events.
In his last junior tournaments, as a 17-year-old in 2002, Isner lost to Komlavi Loglo of Togo in the first round of the Eddie Her, and to Florian Lemke of Germany in the first round of the Orange Bowl. It wasn’t as though he was already a pro by then; Isner didn’t even play his first pro Futures tournament until 2003. That’s why he wisely chose to go the college route, to grow into his big body and improve his game.
It worked out well for him; he ended up getting to the top 10, and there’s still surely more to come.
Opelka, who turned 17 during the U.S. Open, was at No. 89 going into the Eddie Herr. With his victory, and a semi-final effort in doubles, he will buzz right up the rankings. He has already played more junior matches at the ITF level than Isner did.
Opelka lost in the second round at the U.S. Open junior, to vs HONG, Seong Chan of Korea. Here are some pics from that match.
As you can see, there was a severe height differential between the two kids, (and a ranking differential as well; Hong is a top-20 junior player). It went to 6-4 in the third set on a hot day.
Hong is listed at 5-foot-7. But at that height, at their age, he’s going to be a whole lot nimbler around the court. What that gives him now, it can take away from him later on.
Currently, Opelka is part of the USTA national program, which is headquartered at the Evert Academy in Boca Raton. It appears he hasn’t turned pro, which is a wise move. He could do worse than spend four years in college, as Isner did. These days, there is plenty of time.
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