Australian wild card Alexei Popyrin fought back from losing the first set to beat eighth seed Taylor Fritz 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 reaching the third round at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Popyrin faced just two break points during the match.
Popyrin lost the first set 7-4 in the tie-break, but he won the first five points to clinch the tie-break of the second set 7-2.
Popyrin broke Fritz in the third game and did not drop a single point on his serve en route to winning the third set 6-4.
Both players traded breaks in the eighth and ninth games of the fourth set. Popyrin saved a set point to reach the tie-break.
The Aussie player missed out on a match point in the in the tie-break of the fourth set, as Fritz sent the match to the fifth set.
Popyrin faced a break point as he served to open the first set, but he saved it with an ace before earning an early break in the fourth game of the fifth set to open up a 4-1 lead. He sealed the win with his fourth break of the match with an inside-out forehand return on his second match point after just four hours.
Popyrin won just five ATP Tour level matches in 2002. He lost in the first round at three Grand Slam tournaments last year and reached the second round at the US Open. He bounced back at the start of the 2023 season scoring two top 10 wins against Felix Auger Aliassime in Adelaide and and Taylor Fritz at the Australian Open. He reached the quarter finals at Adelaide International 1 before losing to Yoshihito Nishioka in the first week of the 2023 season.
“I had the toughest year last season. I won as many matches this year as I won the whole of last year. During the pre-season I put my head down. I worked as hard as I possibly could. I don’t want that feeling that I had last year ever again. I am going to keep working. I am going to keep pushing. I am going to try to keep going all the way. I like the feeling and I want more of this feeling”, said Popyrin.
After spending eight and a half hours on court in the first two round Popyrin will face former NCAA champion Ben Shelton, who Nicolas Jarry 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3) 7-5.
Popyrin won his second career match at Grand Slam level after his victory over Dominic Thiem in the second round at the 2019 Australian Open.
“This is the dream for me and I don’t want to wake up at all”, said Popyrin in the post match interview.
The home player expressed his gratitude to the crowd, who supported him during the match.
“You guys were just incredible. This is crazy. I really could not have done it without you guys. This win means so much to me“