ICYMI Iain Payten wrote a piece for this masthead yesterday on the former Australian Open finalist who taught Alexei Popyrin how to hold a tennis racquet. He said the shy young Sydneysider always showed the talent to become one of the world’s top 10.
Djokovic was looking to notch a 25th major victory at the US Open but Popyrin had other plans, and the Australian turfed the Serbian out in four-sets in a major upset. It was the first time anyone had knocked Djokovic out at the US Open before the fourth round since Lleyton Hewitt way back in 2006.
The giant scalp for Popyrin came hot on the heels of his breakthrough first singles title last month, when he won the Montreal Open in Canada. After falling out of the world’s top 100 last year, Popyrin is now at a career-high ranking of 23 and his first coach, former Australian no.1 Kim Warwick, believes he hasn’t yet reached his peak.
In you’re after some pre-match reading, you can read the full article here.
