Next Up For Surprising American Reilly Opelka At Wimbledon: 15th Seed Milos Raonic

No American man has won Wimbledon since Pete Sampras took his then-record seventh title in 2000 and no U.S. male has reached the final since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer in 2009. It's not likely that either of those trends changes at the All England Club, but one hugely pleasant USA surprise so far on the grass courts in London has been unseeded Reilly Opelka.

The 6-foot-11 Opelka, who is ranked 63rd in the world, stunned No. 22 seed and multiple Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland on Wednesday, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 8-6, to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career. Opelka is the first U.S. male since Justin Gimelstob in 1997 to knock out a previous major title winner in his Wimbledon main draw debut. The 21-year-old Opelka, born in Michigan but a Florida resident, is playing Wimbledon for the first time and in just his fourth-ever Grand Slam event. He didn't reach the third round in any of the other three.

As one might expect at his size, Opelka is lethal on the serve and had 23 aces against Wawrinka, regularly hitting 140 mph (high of 142). He also won 20 of his 33 serve and volley points. It was the first five-set win in Opelka's career, while Wawrinka is now 1-5 lifetime in five-setters at Wimbledon. Opelka is no fluke as he's a former junior Wimbledon champion who won the New York Open back in February and upset fellow American John Isner in the first round of the Australian Open in January. Opelka beat Isner again in the semifinals of the New York Open.

Opelka will be a sizable betting underdog again Friday morning U.S. time when he faces Canada's Milos Raonic, the No. 15 seed and a 2016 Wimbledon finalist – he lost that to Andy Murray. Raonic beat Robin Haase in straight sets to reach the third round of Wimbledon for a sixth straight year. This will be the first pro meeting between Opelka and Raonic.

Just in case you are wondering, these two are in the same half of the draw as top-seeded Novak Djokovic, the tournament favorite. That potential matchup wouldn't come until the semifinals, however.