U.S. tennis stars Opelka, Paul vie in charity exhibition at The Boulevard in Vero Beach

Vero Beach may have a new tennis tradition.

Reilly Opelka, the No. 26-ranked tennis player in the world, and Tommy Paul, the No. 43-ranked player in the world, showed off their skills in a special charity exhibition match in front of a sold-out crowd Thursday night at The Boulevard Tennis Club in Vero Beach.

The event, organized by Vero Beach’s world-renowned sports physical therapist Gary Kitchell, benefitted the Sally Wilkey Foundation and could mark the start of annual December tennis charity exhibition with big-name tennis professionals during their brief off-season.

“I'm very grateful for these two top young Americans who are definitely stars on the rise,” said Kitchell of Opelka and Paul, both of whom he has worked with on the ATP Tour. “For them to come and support the Sally Wilkey Foundation, and on of personal level, come and support me as a friend, it means a lot to me.”

The event started with an entertaining question-and-answer session with Opelka and Paul, moderated by Kitchell, followed by a one-set match between the two upstart American tennis stars, won by Opelka 7-6 (7-5) in front of an enthusiastic and appreciative Vero Beach tennis crowd.

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“I tell people all over the country as I travel that Vero Beach is a hotbed of amateur tennis and the fact that we have the Mardy Fish Foundation here, and now hopefully we have the start of a beginning of exhibitions, so it's going to continually put Vero on the map, not only as a great seaside town, but as the tennis town,” said Kitchell.

Opelka and Paul, both age 24, are part of a new generation of U.S. tennis players who are looking to return American men’s tennis to the upper echelons of the game.

An American man has not won a major singles championship since Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003, and the United States has not won the Davis Cup since 2007. Both Opelka and Paul have played Davis Cup for the United States, captained by Vero Beach native son Mardy Fish, and both have showed glimpses of breaking through into the top 10 in the world rankings.

Opelka reached the singles final at the Canadian Open in Toronto, one of the biggest events on the ATP Tour, and the semifinals at the Italian Open in Rome.

Opelka ended his 2021 season on Fish’s U.S. Davis Cup team that lost to both Italy and Colombia by 2-1 margins in Turin, Italy.

“It was it was a rough couple ties for us,” said Opelka of the recent Davis Cup matches. “We lost to Italy 2-1 … And then, the next match we knew it was a tough situation because going into it, we knew we had to win all six sets. So we had to win in straight sets, every match, which is a tough ask. All these guys are good … It was unfortunate. It wasn't the what we wanted, but it was good. Good time hanging with captain Mardy Fish, the local Vero Beach boy. It was a good time. We didn't play our best, unfortunately.”

Paul is fresh off winning his first ATP singles title at the Swedish Open in Stockholm last month.

En route to the title, he beat Swedish tennis legend Bjorn Borg’s son Leo, fellow Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and Canadian superstar Denis Shapovalov.

“My whole goal for this year was to get a title and it happened in the last week of the year, which was really cool,” said Paul, who in 2014 at the age of 17 reached the quarterfinals at Vero Beach’s USTA Pro Circuit event now known as the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships. “That was the first time and hopefully not the last time that happens, but it's not easy to do so I was really pumped about it. I started catching a rhythm towards the end of the year, and I almost didn't even go to Stockholm because I was worn out. Everyone at the end of the year, their bodies are struggling to keep going. And, I'm happy I went and then I ended up playing my best tennis there.”

Opelka, who stands at 6-feet 11-inches tall, is known as one of the fastest and best servers in tennis. However, it was Paul, who stands at 6-foot-1, who shined more with his serve Thursday night, delivering no less than three aces during the one-set match.

While Opelka mainly “kicked” his serve in during the night, he did connect on several rocket forehands, including a passing shot winner to close out the match at 6-5 in the tiebreaker.

Opelka and Paul live and train together in Boca Raton and will both soon travel to Australia to compete at the Australian Open, the first major championship of the 2022 pro tennis season.

The Sally Wilkey Foundation is a non-profit organization that enriches the lives of vulnerable local children through tennis in the Vero Beach area. It helps to fund tennis for children who would not otherwise be able to afford to play, offering weekly tennis lessons as well as educational support, meals and equipment.

The Boulevard Tennis Club is regarded as the epicenter of tennis in Vero Beach. The popular club also hosts the annual Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, a $15,000 ITF World Tennis Tour and USTA Pro Circuit event that is an entry level professional event where young and up-and-coming player compete for ATP ranking points. The 2022 Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships will be held April 25 - May 1.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Tennis stars Opelka, Paul vie in charity exhibition in Vero Beach