Reilly Opelka withdraws from 2023 Australian Open

World No. 38 Reilly Opelka's spell on the sidelines continues as the American star withdrew from the 2023 Australian Open.

The 25-year-old was last seen in action in August 2022, with injuries seeing him miss a major chunk of the season. This has also resulted in his drop in the ATP rankings.

While it looked like Opelka would return to action in Australia this month, that is not the case anymore. He has withdrawn from the Australian Open and has been replaced by World No. 99 Zhang Zhizhen, who will compete in the main draw of the Asia-Pacific Major for the first time in his career.

Opelka reached the third round of last year's Australian Open with wins over Kevin Anderson and Dominik Koepfer before losing 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Denis Shapovalov.

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Reilly Opelka won two titles in 2022 before his season came to an end at Citi Open

Reilly Opelka in action at the Citi Open.

Reilly Opelka was last seen in action at the Citi Open during the first week of August last year. The American booked his place in the second round of the ATP 500 tournament by defeating compatriot Denis Kudla 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4. However, he lost 7-6(1), 6-2 to eventual champion Nick Kyrgios in the Round of 16.

The 25-year-old had a 21-15 win-loss record during the 2022 season, winning two titles. The first of these came at the Dallas Open, which he started by defeating Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 7-6(3), 7-6(8) in the last 16. He then beat Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-4 before triumphing 7-6(7), 7-6(22) over John Isner to book his place in the final, where he defeated Jenson Brooksby 7-6(5), 7-6(3) to win his first title of the season.

The American's second triumph came at the US Clay Court Championships in Houston. He started the ATP 250 event with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Mitchell Krueger and followed it up by beating Gijs Brouwer 6-3, 7-5 to reach the semifinals. Here, he registered a 6-3, 7-5 win over Nick Kyrgios to seal his place in the final.

Reilly Opelka defeated John Isner 6-3, 7-6(7) in the title clash to win a clay-court title for the first time in his career. The other notable result of the 25-year-old's season was his runner-up finish at the Delray Beach Open, where he lost 7-6(1), 7-6(4) to Cameron Norrie in the final.