For Alexei Popyrin qualifying the quarterfinals of US Open was the biggest upset of this tournament since he knocked out defending champion Novak Djokovic. Popyrin took a turn on the court stating right before that game that it was “bigger”. At world No. 28 Australian tennis play low Alexander Popyrin caused a sensation of defeat the 24th time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
The defeat marked Djokovic’s worst finish in the U.S. Open since 2005 when he lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the 2nd round. ‘‘… Winning in Montreal is now more than it is because it’s some championship and it’s a thousand tournament class masters’’ recalled 25-year-old Alexei Popyrin. “It is unbelievable,” stated Popyrin, “‘Today I felt like I was able to do it,’ I know? Even winning the Masters 1000 was not on my mind,’ he added as per AFP.’’
It should be noted, however, that the commentaries do not in any way radical criticism in this case, to whom Popyrin was almost immediately by the organizer, even considering the fact This was really the worst tennis that I have ever played. Even Alexei Popyrin had an idea that such a scenario would happen. Ten times before in his career, Djokovic had fought back from a two sets to none deficit. Popyrin shared, “No, not at all, he absolute didn’t play his best tennis. I was expecting him to step up. I felt like he did in the third set. But my level dropped. I didn’t hit many first serves.”.
The Australian, who progressed to the fourth round in this first appearance at a major tournament, also highlighted the additional energy he possessed towards the end of the fourth set because he was aware of Djokovic’s resilience. “He has lost countless occasions after coming from two sets down, and for some reason, I was not interested in being one of those instances where Novak came back from a two-set deficit, and fell. It was in the back of my mind also,” he said. It was just an added motivation for me not to do that and go on to win the fourth set. I sort of had to give myself a pep talk and swear a few times to get back into a winning mood.”
After that, Alexei Popyrin will face another American in the race for the final quarter – Frances Tiafoe who has all the characteristics of becoming a crowd favorite in the US. Semi-finalists in 2022, quarter-finalists in 2023.
Alexei Popyrin recalled how Francis amazed him which sparked their friendly competition, exclaiming: “It’s going to be fun to compete against Francis because every single time I was in the round, a few rounds before I was going to play against Francis, I lost. And he always used to say, man, what’s with you? You’re losing before us.”
