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DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 19, 2019

Reilly Opelka

Paris, France

CANADA 1, USA 0

POSPISIL/Opelka 7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Any questions?

Q. Two very close sets. What was missing there in the end?
REILLY OPELKA: It's just how I play. Came down to a few points.

Q. Talk us through the match. I know it's hard, it is not easy to lose a match like that. What your thoughts were as you went through and where the differences were made in your mind?
REILLY OPELKA: He played really well. He played great. Thought I did my part, played well, served well, and I put myself in a position to win. He was just too good.

Q. Your first experience of the Davis Cup. A lot more Canadian fans than American fans. Did that surprise you?
REILLY OPELKA: No, being an American tennis player you're kind of used to not getting the support. I've played plenty of matches in that similar environment. I played Schwartzman in Miami. It was definitely a more hostile crowd than that.

Super fun, great environment. Great having Tiafoe, Fritz, and seeing Jack, it's been a lot of fun. So from the team environment standpoint, it's been ten out of ten.

Like you say, it's a new experience for me. Something I can still improve and get used to. I think I did everything my way this week. And like I said, it just came down to a few points.

Q. Just generally, what was the first Davis Cup match you remember watching when you were a kid?
REILLY OPELKA: Austin, Texas, US versus Spain, Roddick and Mardy played Ferrer and Feliciano.

Q. In a tournament just putting on the US jacket, to come out and play for the US team, what was it like before and what does it mean to you?
REILLY OPELKA: I think I did a really good job of keeping everything the same. I mean, obviously, it means a lot playing for the US. But I'm going to get the most out of it is treating it like it's another week.

My style of play is pretty reckless at times. It's won me a lot of matches this year. So if I add, you know, too much unnecessary pressure, maybe that isn't as effective.

I think I did a good job today of just being me, playing me, playing how I've played all year. And like I said, 6 and 6, 7-5 in one breaker, 8-6 in the other. It's as close as it's going to get.

Q. Were you practicing on other courts?
REILLY OPELKA: Yeah. I played in Rome.

Q. What did you think about the --
REILLY OPELKA: The ball is super slow. But obviously there's altitude here so it's not as slow. There's other tournaments that are slower, but I'd say it's on the slower end of the spectrum.

Q. (Inaudible.)
REILLY OPELKA: The balls just get heavy, they get fluffy. So back end of the ball change you can really swing, you can really let it go. I don't mind that at all. Usually I have no problem making the ball move. I think Fritz benefits a lot from it as well, because he likes letting them fly.

Q. What do you think of this format?
REILLY OPELKA: Yeah, it's hard to say exactly. I'm a big fan of the new Davis Cup. Maybe timing-wise it could be different. But I think the new format is great. I think it is easier to follow, it's easier to understand what's going on. The tournament starts, the tournament ends, you have a winner, you know when it's over. It's not dragging on throughout the whole year. So I think that's great.

It's hard, it's hard to watch. It's hard for friends and family back home to find. So I think having access to it and making it more streamable and, like, extremely accessible will be huge. So I think that's the only improvement I would like to recommend.

Other than that, I think it's been great and for Pique to sink his teeth into a project like this is really special. Imagine what a guy of his level in the States of an athlete, like Kobe, someone like that, endorsing Davis Cup and promoting it. Obviously he's taking so much time out of his schedule. He's been flying from Barcelona every day.

So a lot of respect and props to him, not just for putting his name on it, he's been here every day.

Q. Timing-wise do you mean the date itself or do you mean the way it's organized?
REILLY OPELKA: Both. I think there's room for, we have time and other weeks of the year. A lot of people are tired. I'm not, I finished my season early, I didn't even play Paris. So I think maybe after Miami there's a possibility to throw in Davis Cup week, or maybe spread out another week in between Indian Wells, Miami.

But I don't know, I think they've all made positive steps in the right direction. So this is an event that I'm going to prioritize every year, just like I did this year. I have my own coach here as well. I really wanted to treat this like a Grand Slam week, and I think I will for the rest of my career.

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