Alexei Popyrin, 25, eliminates Novak Djokovic from the US Open with an upset victory in the third round of the tournament. The Australian of Russian origins creates the biggest surprise of the New York Slam, secures a place in the round of 16 and dreams big. Popyrin, number 28 in the world, is living the best moment of his career after winning his first title of the season and third overall in Montreal, in the Masters 1000 a few weeks ago.
‘Pop’, as he is nicknamed, is finally making the most of the enormous talent at his disposal and is on his way to full maturity after a long wait. The qualities of the almost 2-meter (1.96) heron, who grew up in Spain where he moved in 2010, have never been in question: now, the admirer of Juan Martin Del Potro is also finding consistency at the highest level and the results are there to be seen.
Popyrin, protagonist of the Davis Cup final lost against Italy a year ago, struggled for a good 6 months this season before taking off in Montreal, on the hard courts that best suit his characteristics.
In the Canadian Masters 1000 he beat Ben Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz, Sebastian Korda and, in the final, Andrei Rublev. Five victories, 4 against top ten players: a heavy trophy in his cabinet before the US Open. In New York, for the first time he punched his ticket to the round of 16 of a Slam and did it with a memorable success.