Meet Reilly Opelka, the 6-11 American man that just pulled a stunning upset at Wimbledon

Reilly Opelka entered his second-round match at Wimbledon against Stan Wawrinka with an 11-inch height advantage on the three-time major champion.

He now has a Wimbledon victory to complement the height advantage. 

The unseeded American took out the No. 22 seed on Wednesday at the All England Club, overcoming a 2-1 set deficit to advance in five sets. 

Opelka notched 23 aces during the match, including eight during the decisive set, when he saved both of the break points he faced. 

In the first round, Opelka defeated Belgian Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1. This is the furthest the 21-year-old has advanced in a Grand Slam event. 

Jul 3, 2019: Reilly Opelka celebrates recording match point during his match against Stan Wawrinka on day three at the All England Lawn and Croquet Club. (Photo: Susan Mullane, USA TODAY Sports)

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Who is Reilly Opelka? 

At 6-foot-11, Opelka is the tallest ATP player in history, tied with Croatian Ivo Karlic, who is also listed at 6-11. The size gives him a strong advantage in the service aspect of his game – his serves can reach the low-140 mph range.

Opelka, 21, began playing tennis competitively at 13 and made his professional debut in 2016, when he won the first three matches of his career at the BB&T Atlanta Open and reached the semifinals in his third pro event. 

Performance on the court 

Opelka qualified for the Australian Open in 2017 but did not advance out of the first round. In fact, he managed just one win during that season.

In 2018, he captured a trio of ATP Challenger titles and defeated then-No. 8 and fellow American Jack Sock during the second round of the Delray Beach Open, where he reached the quarterfinals. He finished the year ranked 99th in the world. 

His first win at a major came this year at the Australian Open, where he defeated fellow American John Isner, who is 6-10. 

That set up Opelka for his first title as he won the ATP Tournament in New York in February. He once again defeated top-seeded Isner in the semifinals of that event.  

As an amateur, the Palm Coast, Florida, native also captured the junior Wimbledon title in 2015. 

Now in the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time, Opelka will face off with No. 15 Milos Raonic in the third round. 

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