Present
At 24, Alexei Popyrin has a great chance to make history at the English Grand Slam.
© IMAGO/BuzziAlexei Popyrin (IMAGO)
This Thursday Alexei Popyrin won in the second round of Wimbledon Argentine Tomas Etcheverry and qualified for the next round where he will face none other than Novak Djokovic. The young Australian will have to have an epic day on Saturday to pull off the big blow and achieve what he has never done before: beat the Serbian.
The young oceanic, who has only two 250 titles under his belt, already faced this year Absent at the Australian Open: “Playing against Novak is no different than playing against any other player on the tour. For me it’s the same preparation, the same mentality. “I’m going with full confidence. If I don’t go with that confidence, there’s no point in going. It’ll just be me playing against the world number one. One more match,” he declared before losing 6-3 4-6 7-6 (4) 6-3 against the then world number 1.
Something undoubtedly curious about Popyrin is that his idol is an Argentine tennis player: “I grew up watching Del Potro. Ever since I saw him win the 2009 US Open final, I’ve tried to play like him.“, he said in an interview in January 2019 when at 19 years old he surpassed Dominic Thiem in Australia.
On how he will face the duel with Djokovicin January of this year, he made his strategy clear: “From the experience, from being in the locker room around these players and training with them, from comparing myself with them over the years. I don’t want to go on the track thinking he’s the greatest of all time.“I admire what he has achieved, he probably does. But he needs to have that confidence and believe that I can win the match and that he is just the world number one, just another player on the other side of the net. I need to concentrate on what I have to do on the court. There is no point in me going out on court thinking that I can’t beat him.”
Among the most curious facts about Popyrin, nicknamed Pop, is that due to his Russian ancestry and having lived part of his life in Spain, he speaks those two languages as well as English. In addition, his other favorite sport is basketball and he is a fervent fan of Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA. If he had to choose football, he surprisingly opted for Everton, from England.
On Saturday he will face Djokovic in search of the round of 16 at Wimbledon, a stage he has never reached in a Grand Slam. Will it be Pop’s time?
2024-07-04 17:03:15
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