“Tickets Sales Must Be Struggling” – Reilly Opelka Hits Back at US Open After Bizarre $10,000 Fine

Reilly Opelka is enjoying quite a successful season this year. After notching two impressive victories in the US Open, the American faced Nikoloz Basilashvili in the third round yesterday. However, he incurred an unusual fine for the kit bag he brought to his second-round match against Lorenzo Musetti.

After incurring the fine, the 24-year-old took to social media to mock the fine with a few words.

Reilly Opelka mocks $10,000 fine incurred for kit bag

Opelka arrived in Court 17 for his match against Musetti with a pink bag to go with his huge, red Wilson kit bag. However, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) found it violated a rule put in place regarding the size of logos on it.

As reported by prominent tennis journalist Ben Rothenburg, the rule states that the bag manufacturer’s logo, along with two commercial logos cannot exceed four square inches in size on the bag individually. While mentioning the rule, Rothenburg wrote, “Reilly Opelka was fined $10,000 for what USTA calls an “unapproved bag,” meaning logos on a bag he brought onto court with him were too large.”

In fact, this is the largest fine incurred by any player in this year’s edition of the US Open. Mentioning Rothenburg’s tweet, Opelka mocked ticket sales of the hard court Grand Slam while ridiculing the fine. In addition, he also complimented his bag for its unique color.

He wrote, “US Open ticket sales must be strugglin this year. 10k for a pink bag, at least it looked fly!”

READ MORE: “Happens 10 Times a Day”: Reilly Opelka on People Making Stupid Comments on His Height

Opelka defeated Basilashvili in straight sets to progress

The tall American brought his A-game to Grandstand against his Georgian opponent, clinching a straight sets victory. The final scoreline read 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4.

He will face South African Lloyd Harris in the fourth round on Monday, September 6. Harris produced an upset win over seventh seed Denis Shapovalov in the third round to set up this clash with Opelka.

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