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.