Novak Djokovic suffers shock loss to 6ft 11in record holder ranked no.293
Novak Djokovic has been beaten by Reilly Opelka, the world no.293, in a stunning upset. Djokovic is currently in Brisbane preparing for the Australia Open, which will be his first tournament with new coaching partner Andy Murray in his box. Djokovic left the court visibly disappointed with the defeatGetty Reilly Opelka is the world no.293 and is also the tallest player on tour at 6ft11Getty But preparations are not going as they’d have hoped, with Djokovic knocked out of the Brisbane International in straight sets to the USA’s Reilly Opelka in the quarter-finals. The 27-year-old American tennis player defeated Djokovic in straight sets, beating him 7-6 (8-6) 6-3. The world number 293 knocked out the world number seven with his straight sets victory, leaving Djokovic visibly disappointed when leaving the court. Florida-born Opelka reached a career-high ranking of 17 in February 2022 and has a win-loss record ofg 96-92, though this win will certainly be one of the more memorable ones. His career prize money also amounts to $236,175 on the singles competitions, having won four titles, all of which domestic – Houston, Dallas, Delray Beach and New York. Djokovic on the other hand has won $4,421,915 in prize money across 99 title victories, 24 of which Grand Slams. The American’s four title wins have all come at ATP 250 tournaments and since his world ranking of 17 three years ago he has played just one match due to injury problems. Opelka will now face Giovani Mpetshi-Perricard, who beat Djokovic’s doubles partner Nick Kyrgios earlier in the tournament, in the semi-finals. Opelka is tied with Ivo Karlovic as the tallest ever ATP-ranked player, standing at 6ft 11 inches, and producing serves of over 63 metres per second. Opelka registered 16 aces to the Serb’s 8 and shocked the 24-time Grand Slam champion. Djokovic’s preparations for the Australian Open are not going as plannedGetty Djokovic will kickstart his Australian Open campaign on January 12 when the tournament begins its early stages. A victory at the competition would see him tied with Margaret Court for the most wins at the tournament. Djokovic is currently on 10 wins in Australia, and Court has 11. The 37-year-old Serb won consecutively from 2019-2021 after his first win in 2008. He beat Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2023 after missing out to eventual 2024 champion Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals last year. It will be the first time with Murray in his coaching box too, with the pair announcing their unlikely partnership at the end of last year. The Australian Open runs from January 12 to January 26. View Tweet: https://twitter.com/hashtag/BrisbaneTennis?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Novak Djokovic has been beaten by Reilly Opelka, the world no.293, in a stunning upset.
Djokovic is currently in Brisbane preparing for the Australia Open, which will be his first tournament with new coaching partner Andy Murray in his box.
But preparations are not going as they’d have hoped, with Djokovic knocked out of the Brisbane International in straight sets to the USA’s Reilly Opelka in the quarter-finals.
The 27-year-old American tennis player defeated Djokovic in straight sets, beating him 7-6 (8-6) 6-3.
The world number 293 knocked out the world number seven with his straight sets victory, leaving Djokovic visibly disappointed when leaving the court.
Florida-born Opelka reached a career-high ranking of 17 in February 2022 and has a win-loss record ofg 96-92, though this win will certainly be one of the more memorable ones.
His career prize money also amounts to $236,175 on the singles competitions, having won four titles, all of which domestic – Houston, Dallas, Delray Beach and New York.
Djokovic on the other hand has won $4,421,915 in prize money across 99 title victories, 24 of which Grand Slams.
The American’s four title wins have all come at ATP 250 tournaments and since his world ranking of 17 three years ago he has played just one match due to injury problems.
Opelka will now face Giovani Mpetshi-Perricard, who beat Djokovic’s doubles partner Nick Kyrgios earlier in the tournament, in the semi-finals.
Opelka is tied with Ivo Karlovic as the tallest ever ATP-ranked player, standing at 6ft 11 inches, and producing serves of over 63 metres per second.
Opelka registered 16 aces to the Serb’s 8 and shocked the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Djokovic will kickstart his Australian Open campaign on January 12 when the tournament begins its early stages.
A victory at the competition would see him tied with Margaret Court for the most wins at the tournament.
Djokovic is currently on 10 wins in Australia, and Court has 11. The 37-year-old Serb won consecutively from 2019-2021 after his first win in 2008.
He beat Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2023 after missing out to eventual 2024 champion Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals last year.
It will be the first time with Murray in his coaching box too, with the pair announcing their unlikely partnership at the end of last year.
The Australian Open runs from January 12 to January 26.
