
Melbourne (Australia) – Away from the circuit since August last year, North American Reilly Opelka underwent hip surgery in the second half of 2022 and did not recover in time to compete in the Australian Open.
The 25-year-old American will replace Chinese Zhizhen Zhang in the main draw of the first Grand Slam of the season, which is the second straight tournament of this size that he has lost. Opelka was also absent from last year’s US Open.
His last appearance was at the ATP 500 in Washington, where he did not make it past the round of 16, beaten by Australian Nick Kyrgios. Opelka currently occupies 38th place in the ranking, but has already reached 17th in the world in February 2022.