ASB Classic: Giant American who stunned Novak Djokovic late inclusion to Auckland men’s field

Reilly Opelka celebrates beating Novak Djokovic in Brisbane. Photo / Photosport

One of the biggest hitters in tennis and a stylish Frenchman are two late inclusions into the men’s ASB Classic, bolstering a quality field.

Towering American Reilly Opelka, who is on the comeback from injury, has been granted a special exemption to compete in Auckland.

At 2.11m, Opelka is the equal-tallest player to feature on the ATP tour (along with Ivo Karlovic) and makes the most of his altitude, with a thunderous serve. That was on display on Friday night in Brisbane, when he sent down 16 aces – all in excess of 200km/h – in a shock 7-6, 6-3 quarter-final win over Novak Djokovic.

Opelka has been as high as No 17 but has been beset by injuries. He is currently at No 293, though has a protected ranking of 33.

2018 Australian Open semifinalist Lucas Pouille is the other addition, granted a main draw wildcard earlier this week. A former top-10 player, Pouille is on the comeback trail after a series of injuries and surgery. He was as low as 670 in May 2023 but is now 101.

“He’s had a pretty good season,” said Lamperin. “He got a main draw [Australian Open] wildcard so he was available to play that week and we thought it was a good pick for the tournament.”

While the men’s tournament might lack the pure star power of the women’s event – with the likes of Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu – the depth is far superior. The eight seeds – headed by world No 21 Ben Shelton – are within the top 41, with names like Gael Monfils (55) and Cameron Norrie (49) on top of that.

On his ninth appearance in Auckland, Norrie will face a qualifier in the first round. The Auckland-raised Norrie has enjoyed a bye to the round of 16 on his last two visits – as one of the top four seeds – but faces a harder road this week, with third seed Sebastian Baez (No 27) waiting in the second round.

In what is likely to be his last visit to the ASB Classic, 38-year-old Monfils has drawn Spanish world No 43 Pedro Martinez first up. It’s a difficult assignment on paper, though Monfils has shown decent form so far in 2024, with an impressive win over Nishesh Basavareddy in Brisbane last week before he was stopped by Djokovic.

Kiwi Isaac Becroft, who won the Te Anau invitational to seal a main draw wildcard into this event, faces world No 42 Jan-Lennard Struff. As is often the case with young local players, Becroft has to overcome a vast gulf of experience.

The 24-year-old is just inside the top 1000 (978) and has mostly been consigned to the Futures tour, while Struff has almost 500 ATP tour matches to his name and boasts a number of top-five match wins.

Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns.