24-year-old Australian tennis player Alexei Popyrin created one of the biggest upsets in US Open history on Saturday when he knocked out 24-time Grand Slam winner, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the third round of the 2024 US Open, beating him 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in a four-set marathon match. The 28th ATP-ranked player has now crossed round three for the first time at the US Open, having been eliminated at the same stage in 2019, 2020, and 2023.
Early career
Born in Sydney, Australia, to Russian parents, Popyrin began playing tennis when he was only four years old. He started his official training in Dubai at the age of eight. He quickly showed promise and rose through the junior ranks, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open Junior Championships in 2017. He won 22 consecutive matches in four consecutive tournaments, proving he was going to be a big name in the future.
Popyrin’s breakthrough moment came in 2019 when he reached the third round of the Australian Open. He followed that up with a quarterfinal appearance at the Winston-Salem Open and won his first ATP title at the Singapore Open. His consistent performance helped him reach a career-high ATP ranking of 23 in August 2024.
The upset
The 2024 US Open marked a significant moment in Popyrin’s career. The Australian displayed exceptional skill and determination when facing the much more experienced Novak Djokovic, who was seeking his 25th Grand Slam title. Popyrin kept the pressure on the defending champion from the start, winning the first two sets 6-4, 6-4. Djokovic came back strong in the third set, winning 6-4. However, Popyrin was in no mood to let his career-defining moment slip away, securing the final set 6-4 and ending Djokovic’s hunt for a record-breaking Grand Slam title in the United States.
First Published: Aug 31 2024 | 1:24 PM IST
