Kudla on Mpetshi Perricard: "He'll probably be a top-20 player for the rest of his career".

Adrien Guyot

le 07/01/2025 à 12h55

2 min to read

Brisbane Kudla Mpetshi Perricard Opelka

In recent days, Denis Kudla, former world No. 53, announced his retirement on his Instagram account.

The American will now work with Reilly Opelka, who has made a remarkable comeback to the tour in recent months after two years of hard times due to injuries, mainly to his hip and wrist.

Last Sunday, Opelka reached the final of the Brisbane tournament, having eliminated Arnaldi, Djokovic and Mpetshi Perricard along the way.

In the final, he lost to Lehecka in the middle of the first set, but his week was nonetheless very positive.

While we wait to see how Opelka's next few months develop, Kudla gave his opinion on Mpetshi Perricard, whom his new protégé faced in the semi-finals in the Australian city.

"There's no reason why Reilly Opelka shouldn't go from 300th in the world to the top 20, which is exactly what's happening to Mpetshi Perricard.

I trained with him in Ohio in 2023, I knew the coach who worked with him and I thought, 'Okay, I'll be fine', but he was so predictable.

He had to have two good shots, he wasn't that strong. It was easy to read his game and all of a sudden, he won a tournament, he's now close to the top 20.

Right now, he's incredible. He could reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam very soon and will probably be a top 20 player for the rest of his career.

When I see Reilly now, I think he could do the same as Giovanni.

That's what happens with these great players. When they're able to light the flame, they're almost unbeatable," says Kudla for The Changeover Podcast.