Reilly Opelka has just finished a busy hard-court spell on the ATP Tour, with last month’s Miami Open his most recent tournament.
Opelka lost in the round of 32 to Tomas Machac, having previously lost his opener at Indian Wells to Roman Safiullin.
The American has been very vocal off the court alongside those displays on it, with Opelka reiterating his criticism of doubles players recently.
Taylor Fritz thinks Opelka is one of the best servers he has ever faced, with the latter having once reached 17th in the ATP Tour rankings.
The 27-year-old currently occupies 105th place, and has now shared his verdict on a key aspect of the current scene in men’s tennis.
Reilly Opelka says Wimbledon would not allow media rights deal
Discussing a change that he thinks could really transform tennis, Opelka said on the Nothing Major Show: “I would say the one clear fix is that we don’t have a massive media rights deal.
“Of all the big sports we are the one that don’t and it’s because all the Grand Slams operate independently from one another.
“The easy answer which every single person would agree with is that if all the tournaments could aggregate as one and fall under one large entity we could do a massive media rights deal, just like other sports have.
“Then you can monetise off of that. We are the second most bet upon sport in the world. We would be able to sell this massive group deal to either Amazon or whoever would buy it, just like every other sport.
“That would change the structure of tennis. I think that would change a lot of things. The sport would evolve so much more.
“I think guys ranked 150 or 250 would be able to have a coach and a physio and the level would just start to increase.
“That is just never going to happen, as you know. Wimbledon would rather burn money than partner with the ATP.”
Reilly Opelka shouldn’t give up on Wimbledon help after rule major change
Returning this summer, Wimbledon is, of course, one of the most traditional tournaments not just in tennis but in global sports.
Predominantly white attire for players and court etiquette are among the rules that are strictly enforced at the All England Club.
READ MORE: Angry tennis fans react after Wimbledon makes rule change for 2025 tournament
Opelka may, however, one day have his wish granted by the powers that be at Wimbledon, who have shown in recent times that they are willing to sway from tradition.
For the first time in the 147-year history of the grass-court Grand Slam, line judges have been abolished, with human officials set to be replaced by artificial intelligence.
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