Opelka continues wait for return to action, withdraws from UTS Frankfurt: "I'm just not quite there yet"

America’s tennis star Reilly Opelka has revealed the reason behind his withdrawal from the upcoming UTS Frankfurt event.

The 26-year-old has struggled with fitness concerns and has missed all the Grand Slams this year.

Opelka was quoted in a report where he stated that even though his recovery is going well, he is still not ‘there yet’ to start participating at the highest level.

“They’re progressing well, actually. I had a few setbacks along the way with this wrist surgery,” he said. “So it’s just been up and down for a while, and I’m finally on the right path. I was telling (UTS player coordinator) Jeremy Chardy that if UTS was one week later, I would be able to play – or maybe two weeks later – I’m pretty confident I could play but I’m just not quite there yet.

“I still haven’t fully started serving yet. I think that’s the biggest thing right now, just having the confidence in my wrist to really swing hard at the serve.

"So that’s the only thing that’s delaying me further. I can do it, which is great, but the problem is after one or two days of intense serving, my wrist still gets a little irritated. So I’ve got to be a little careful.”

Talking about his rehab, the former world number 17 stated that it has not been ‘smooth sailing’.

“Unfortunately it’s not been smooth sailing, where I’ve gone, ‘I feel good, I can play, and maybe I’ll just be smart.’ It’s actually the opposite,” he said. “I wasn’t able to move my arm for six months of the year.

"I was in a cast all the way past my elbow. I was kind of stuck like this for half a year [he moves his arm to sit across the front of his body at a 90-degree angle]. So I just had to learn to be patient.”