Rising American tennis star Reilly Opelka is sick and tied of competing against opponents who have a significant (currently legal) advantage on the court through the focus provided by Adderall. The 26-year-old is, once again, calling for an immediate ban.
Opelka, who was ranked as high as No. 17 in the world in February of 2022, has been on hiatus from the sport due to hip and wrist injuries and has not competed since a loss to Nick Kyrgios in August of 2022. As a result, he has fallen out of the top 100.
While the 6-foot-11 Michigan-native works back to the court, it is his hope that things will look differently when he returns. Opelka knows that change is unlikely. That isn’t stopping him from being an advocate.
In addition to his strong advocacy against doubles competition, Opelka wants the use of Adderall to be banned from competition. This is not the first time that he has called for such an embargo.
Reilly Opelka is as anti-Adderall as it gets.
Opelka showed no sympathy for colleague Fernando Verdasco back at the end of last year. Verdasco received a two-month suspension due to a positive doping test.
The Spanish tennis player takes medication for ADHD, which is listed as a banned substance. However, athletes who are diagnosed with ADHD are eligible for exemption. Verdasco played on an Adderall exemption for most of his career, but his exemption expired and he suffered the consequences.
Opelka considered the use of ADHD exemption to be “legal doping” and questioned why “guys are taking Adderall for the first time in their life as adults.” He did not and does not have “empathy for any tennis player testing positive for Adderall.” In his mind “its a PED.”
That was in December. Opelka spoke out against the stimulant again on Wednesday night when asked via Instagram what he would change about Tennis.
Ban Adderall
— Reilly Opelka
In response to a follow-up question about people who suffer from ADHD, Opelka offered a more expansive explanation for his thought process with a hypothetical question.
My comment applies to professional tennis in particular. But some players have a hard time building strength… should they be allowed to take steroids?
— Reilly Opelka
It seems extremely unlikely that the governing body of professional tennis will be able to create a system that bans Adderall in the near future. The only way to legally play on the ADHD medication is through an exemption, but there is nothing to stop the athletes from receiving that exemption when not actually necessary. Opelka wants it gone entirely. Period.