Tennis ace Reilly Opelka reveals horror 'death threats' after losses
American tennis ace Reilly Opelka has revealed the toll ‘death threats’ take on a player due to gambling on the sport.
The big American joined Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil’s breakaway players association earlier this year.
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Djokovic’s decision to start the PTPA prompted division in the tennis world with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both opting against the move and to stay with the ATP Players Council.
However, Opelka has recently defended Djokovic and said it was disappointing to see the World No.1 cop criticism when he was trying to help out many players.
But he also suggested one area the PTPA should target to help the players.
This was gambling in tennis, which Opelka said needed to be addressed since he had been the target of ‘death threats’.
“Yeah, I would, I would really like to see a push for that,” he told Racquet Magazine.
“That solves so many problems, if you regulate the gambling—which is going to happen no matter what—and they make a lot of money.
“I know, because every time I lose, I get all these death threats. And tennis is a very bet-upon sport and it goes on all year. Gambling companies, I’m sure they want write-offs, and want to throw money into it.”
Djokovic cops criticism for PTPA move
More recently, Djokovic hit out at the ATP after Pospisil and himself were nominated to return to the ATP Council following the PTPA breakaway.
But in a further twist, Djokovic claimed the player council blocked his return after a vote.
However, Melzer labelled this claim as “nonsense” and said these rules were long withstanding.
"Novak Djokovic talks about the fact that certain regulations were put in place, overnight, so that no one from the PTPA was allowed to participate in the council," Melzer said to French website WeLoveTennis.
"This is absolute nonsense. These statutes have been in existence since 2006."
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