Victory over Djokovic: Popyrin reveals it's not his career-best

Australia’s tennis star Alexei Popyrin believes that winning in Montreal was more important for him than the triumph against Serbia’s legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic. The 25-year-old registered arguably the biggest win of his career as he defeated the former world number one in the third round of the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year with a score of 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. It is the first time ever that the Australian tennis player has managed to book his place in the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

Popyrin, while talking to the media after the match, argued that his win in Montreal earlier this year was bigger than beating the Serbian legendary tennis star. The Sydney-born star was of the opinion that result in Montreal gave him the confidence to come to the mega-event and secure positive results.

"For me, winning Montreal was way bigger than today, just because it's a title, and it's a Masters 1000 title. That felt unbelievable," he said. "Today was something that I kind of thought I could do, you know? Winning a Masters 1000 was not something that kind of crossed my head. Those experiences gave me the confidence to go out there tonight and believe that I could win and actually do it and believe it. So when I did it, it kind of felt that kind of proved me right, proved what I was thinking right. It wasn't something that, you know, was unbelievable like Montreal, for example."

Popyrin lifted the Canadian Open after beating Russia’s Andrey Rublev in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4. The world number 28 is now set to face America’s Frances Tiafoe in the fourth-round contest on Sunday. The 26-year-old defeated fellow countryman Ben Shelton in the third round in a five-set thriller with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. It will be the first time when both players will meet in professional tennis.