Alexei Popyrin: Novak Djokovic upset ‘something I thought I could do’ | ATP Tour

Match Response

Djokovic upset no shock for Popyrin: ‘It was one thing I believed I might do’

Australian downed four-time champion in 4 units on Friday night time

August 31, 2024

Alexei Popyrin’s victory towards Novak Djokovic on the US Open could have come as a seismic shock to many, but it surely didn’t come as an enormous shock to the person himself.

Popyrin believes that his big-hitting sport has all the time had the potential to bother the sport’s elite. Quite, stringing high-level performances collectively persistently has been the problem for the 25-year-old, whose straight-sets victory towards Djokovic inside Arthur Ashe Stadium got here simply 18 days after he earned a surprising maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal.

“For me, successful Montreal was manner greater than right this moment, simply because it is a title, and it is a Masters 1000 title,” mirrored Popyrin after his 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win towards Djokovic on Friday night time. “That felt unbelievable. At the moment was one thing that I type of thought I might do, you realize? Successful a Masters 1000 was not one thing that type of crossed my head.

“My two experiences towards [Djokovic] earlier this 12 months on the Australian Open and Wimbledon type of gave me the boldness to go on the market tonight and imagine that I might win, and truly do it and imagine it. So once I did it, it type of felt that proved me proper, proved what I used to be considering was proper. It wasn’t one thing that was unbelievable.”

Having pushed Djokovic to 4 units earlier this 12 months at each the Australian Open and Wimbledon, Popyrin was delighted with the best way he improved mentally to recover from the road this time round.

“It was a fairly strong efficiency from my facet,” stated the Australian. “Actually, I stated earlier than the match that the final two matches that I had, I did not take my possibilities, and right this moment I managed to take my possibilities.

“I might say level-wise it most likely wasn’t the very best stage. I feel as a result of I’ve had some matches the place I’ve performed and felt manner higher than I felt on the market right this moment. I feel the best way I composed myself and the best way I tactically performed the match, that was up there with among the finest matches that I’ve performed.”

As followers who adopted his exploits in Montreal earlier this month will know, Popyrin is a charismatic on-court presence who seems to thrive in massive atmospheres. That was definitely the case on Friday, when it might not have been apparent to onlookers that the Australian was making his debut inside the most important tennis stadium on this planet.

“I stepped out on Arthur Ashe about 20 minutes earlier than the precise match and that was the primary time I’ve ever been on Arthur Ashe, simply to type of get a gauge of how the stadium seemed and the way massive it was,” stated Popyrin. “The gang was superb. They type of stepped up. After I hit these passing photographs, it was fairly superb to really feel the group on my facet. I managed to type of win them over in direction of the top of the match, which was superb.”

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The No. 28 within the PIF ATP Rankings Popyrin can count on an equally vibrant ambiance for his subsequent match, when he takes on house favorite and 2022 semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe within the fourth spherical. Though the 2 gamers know one another properly. it is going to be their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head assembly.

“He is truly a extremely good buddy of mine,” stated Popyrin of Tiafoe. “We get alongside very well off the courtroom. Will probably be attention-grabbing to play towards him. We’ve practised a bunch of occasions. He is a really tough participant. Most likely has among the finest fingers on Tour, comes into the web loads, likes to combine it up. That is going to be the powerful half.

“Actually, taking part in Frances will probably be fairly an expertise as a result of there was a couple of occasions the place I’ve type of misplaced the spherical earlier than having to play Frances, and he is all the time telling me, ‘Man, why do you retain shedding earlier than we play one another?’ Fortunately this time I used to be in a position to do it and hopefully it is going to be an excellent match.”