Reilly Opelka Brutally Slams Umpire In Dallas: 'Worst Ref, Doesn't Know What He's Doing'
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The ending of Reilly Opelka's second-round match at the 2025 Dallas Open was more dramatic than he would have hoped, mostly because of one fan and the umpire.
Opelka was playing against Cameron Norrie in the second round of the ATP 500 event in Dallas. The American player lost the first set but won the second in a tie-break and led in the third.
The scoreboard showed 5-4 and 30-30 in the third set of the match. Opelka was serving, and with his serving qualities, he was a big favorite to win the match.
That's when an incident happened. One of the fans was shouting at Opelka, trying to disturb him in between his serves and when he tossed the ball (as can be seen in the video below).
The umpire of the match, Greg Allensworth, didn't stop the fan from heckling, which is why Opelka decided to take it into his own hands. He told the fan to leave the stadium but with a few profanities.
"Are you doing it on f*****g purpose or what?! Go the f*** inside, buddy."
As a result, Allensworth issued him a code violation for "audible obscenity," which resulted in a point penalty for the tall American. It was a huge call as the scoreboard showed 30-30, and with a point penalty, Opelka was suddenly down 30-40.
He immediately went to discuss the situation with Allensworth, who obviously didn't change his decision. The American player was fuming, but he was able to serve out the match, winning 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
However, after the match, Opelka didn't shake Allensworth's hand, and when talking to journalist Cheryl Murray, the American player didn't hold back when criticizing the umpire.
"Greg Allensworth is the worst ref [umpire] in the ATP. We were talking about him in the locker room, all the players, it really is a coincidence about two days ago [we were talking about the worst umpire on the tour and he] is the worst one."
"Allensworth is real bad. He almost changed the outcome of that match just because he doesn’t really know what he is doing."
"He got emotional, he got very tense and frantic and he couldn’t give me an answer. He didn’t tell that guy to shut up. He [the heckler] was doing it for three points, he didn’t do his job so I had to tell him 'get out of here', the guy was being quite rude."
Opelka also explained his view on the situation with the fan. He said that he's fine with fans being rude to him, but at the same time, they must expect that he will be rude as well.
"I am all for whatever, but if you want to come here to be an a**hole then I am going to be one back. It shouldn’t be one-sided traffic; if you want to be disrespectful to me, I can’t just be a punching bag, and if the ref isn’t doing his job and he penalizes me, it is not a good look."
The American player also stated that he hopes Allensworth will be penalized by the ATP. According to Opelka, the umpire made not one but two mistakes.
"It almost changed the outcome of the match, big point. He didn’t do his job and then penalized me for it, so he did two things wrong. I hope the ATP penalizes him, maybe sideline him for a few tournaments."
