By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Saturday, August 31, 2024
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty for ITF Davis Cup
NEW YORK—Once called out as a ghost writer, Alexei Popyrin continues plotting the most successful summer of his life.
Tomorrow, sometime practice partners Popyrin and Frances Tiafoe will face off for the first time with a trip to the US Open quarterfinals on the line.
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Popyrin played dynamic tennis dethroning defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in a stunning US Open upset to advance to his maiden major fourth round.
Montreal champion Popyrin, who has won eight of his last nine matches, will fulfill a quest playing Tiafoe, who has sometimes jokingly accused the lanky Aussie of ghosting him during tournament play.
“Honestly, playing Frances will be quite an experience because there has been a few times where I have kind of lost the round before having to play Frances, and he’s always telling me, Man, why do you keep losing before we play each other?” Popyrin said. “Yeah, luckily this time I was able to do it and hopefully it will be a good match.”
The lanky Popyrin leads the tournament with 20 service breaks in three wins and knows he will be tested by Tiafoe’s variety.
“[Frances is] actually a really good friend of mine. We get along really well off the court,” Popyrin said. “It will be interesting to play against him. We have practiced a bunch of times.
“Yeah, he’s a very tricky player. Probably has one of the best hands on tour, comes into the net a lot, likes to mix it up. That’s going to be the tough part.
“I’m just going to have to kind of, you know, play my game, serve well. Today I felt like I didn’t really serve that well, considering, you know, the percentages and stuff. For me, I’ve got to have to improve on that.”
In his stunning upset of Djokovic, Popyrin exploited 14 double faults breaking the Serbian superstar five times. Popyrin handed Djokovic his first US Open third-round exit since 2006 when former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt defeated him in New York.
Hall of Famer Hewitt, Popyrin’s Aussie Davis Cup captain, sat in his support box on Friday night near coach Xavier Malisse.
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Defeating Andrey Rublev to win his maiden Masters 1000 championship in Montreal this month, Popyrin became the first Aussie man to win a 1000 title since Hewitt. Popyrin said he hopes to continue his winning connection to Hewitt, a former US Open singles and doubles champion alongside Max Mirnyi.
“I think, you know, to be mentioned in the same name as Lleyton, one of our greats, is always unbelievable,” Popyrin said. “But yeah, it’s a great feeling. I think I was the first Aussie to win a Masters 1000 since Lleyton also, so that’s also a great feeling.
“Hopefully I can continue that trend and do some more things that Lleyton has done in the past.”
