By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Saturday, August 31, 2024
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty for ITF Davis Cup
NEW YORK – Once summoned as a ghostwriter, Alexei Popyrin continues to plot the most successful summer of his life.
Tomorrow, one-time practice partners Popyrin and Frances Tiafoe face off for the first time with a trip to the US Open quarterfinals on the line.
More: Poor Djokovic for what went wrong
Popyrin played dynamic tennis knocking down the reigning champion Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in a stunning US Open upset to advance to his first round of the quarterfinals.
Montreal champion Popyrin, who has won eight of his last nine matches, will fulfill a quest by playing Tiafoe, who has at times jokingly accused the scrappy Australian of ghosting him during tournament play.
“Honestly, playing Frances is going to be quite an experience because there’s been a few times where I’ve lost rounds before playing Frances, and he’s always like, man, why do you keep losing before we play each other? ” said Popyrin. “Yes, luckily this time I was able to do it and I hope it will be a good match”.
The lanky Popyrin leads the tournament with 20 breaks of serve in three wins and knows he will be tested by Tiafoe’s versatility.
“(Frances is) actually a very good friend of mine. We get along very well off the court,” Popyrin said. “It will be interesting to play against him. We have trained many times.
“Yeah, he’s a very tricky player. He’s probably got one of the best hands on the tour, he gets to the net a lot, he likes to mix it up. That’s going to be the hard part.
“I’m going to have to play my game, serve well. Today I felt like I didn’t serve that well, considering, you know, percentages and stuff. For me, I’ve got to get better at that.”
In his stunning upset of Djokovic, Popyrin exploited 14 double faults to break the Serbian superstar five times. Popyrin gave Djokovic his first US Open third-round exit since 2006, when former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt beat him in New York.
Hall of Famer Hewitt, Popyrin’s Aussie Davis Cup captain, sat in his support box Friday night next to coach Xavier Malisse.
Beating Andrey Rublev to win his first Masters 1000 championship in Montreal this month, Popyrin became the first Austrian to win a 1000 title since Hewitt. Popyrin said he hopes to continue his winning relationship with Hewitt, a former US Open singles and doubles champion alongside Max Mirnyi.
“I think, you know, to be called the same name as Lleyton, one of our greats, is always incredible,” Popyrin said. “But yeah, it’s a great feeling. I think I was the first Australian to win a Masters 1000 since Lleyton as well, so that’s a great feeling too.
“Hopefully I can continue that trend and do some more things that Lleyton has done in the past.”
