American tennis player Reilly Opelka is back to winning matches after dealing with a bout of COVID-19 that he said kept him off the court entirely for more than two weeks and prevented him from practicing the way he usually does for nearly a month.
âIt felt like a rough flu,â Opelka said in a telephone interview Tuesday from Rome, where he beat Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-4, 6-4 to reach the round of 16 at the clay-court Italian Open. âDefinitely put me out completely for five days. And then I stayed home for another 10 or 11 days, at least.â
The 47th-ranked Opelka has back-to-back victories â he beat Richard Gasquet 6-1, 7-5 in his opener â after arriving in Italy on a six-match losing streak that included a first-round exit at the Miami Open in March.