The Press Stories
When Ashleigh Barty won the Australian Open in 2022, it was the first time that a home favorite had won the event since 1978.
But in the men’s singles, that drought now dates back to 1976 – with the likes of Nick Kyrgios, Leyton Hewitt, Pat Rafter, Mark Philippoussis and others unable to break the deadlock over the years.
There’s a new Aussie emerging, however, who may just have a chance of ending the hoodoo. Alexei Popyrin now has an ATP 1000 title to his name, has reached a career high ranking of 23, and enjoyed a strong run at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Could he be Australia’s next tennis star?
Top of the Pops
The latest tennis odds from Paddy Power aren’t giving Popyrin much of a chance of ending Australia’s wait for a home winner in the men’s singles in 2025 – he’s been installed as a generous +17500 outsider.
The tennis betting tips will instead focus on the likes of Novak Djokovic (+195), Daniil Medvedev (+700), and Alexander Zverev (+2000), who each boast a fine record in Grand Slam events played on hard courts.
But it’s not uncommon for shock results to occur in men’s tennis – particularly at the start of the calendar year, when the top players may yet to have found their rhythm, and besides Popyrin is very much trending in the right direction.
The man known as ‘Pop’ was too hot to stop at the Omnium Banque National in Montreal in August, downing the fifth seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets in the final.
Alexei, who’s the newest Masters 1000 champion?! 🗣️
Australia’s Alexei Popyrin defeats Rublev to win the biggest title of his career in Montréal!#NBO24 @OBNMontreal pic.twitter.com/1ssP9mIxsB
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 13, 2024
Popyrin had accounted for the fourth seed, Hubert Hurkacz, and the seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov in the earlier rounds, meaning that he had defeated three top-ten ranked players in a single tournament.
Whether the Canadian Open turns out to be a flash in the pan, or a sign of the Australian’s continued emergence, only time will tell, but he heads to the end of the season brimming with confidence.
At Your Service
For a guy that stands 6ft 5in tall and boasts a huge wingspan, you won’t be surprised to learn that much of Popyrin’s success is due to his huge booming serve.
And it is very much a case of bombs away for the Australian, whose season-long first serve percentage of 61% (at the time of writing) reveals that it is very much at the top-end of the risk-reward spectrum.
His second serve percentage of points won – just 50% – reveals how much he does lean on that first serve, via which he has won an epic 83% of service games in 2024.
[1/2] Another day on the clay for our Aussies in the tennis at #Paris2024
🎾 🇩🇪 Alexander Zverev d. 🇦🇺 Alexei Popyrin 7-5 6-3
🎾 🇦🇺 Matt Ebden/John Peers d. 🇩🇪 Dominik Koepfer/Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(2) 7-6(4)#AllezAUS | @TennisAustralia pic.twitter.com/kvXw1Ahb36— AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) July 31, 2024
Being a big server is certainly helpful on the slick courts of Melbourne at the Australian Open, but there’s more to Popyrin’s game than just trying to hit aces. His record is improving on clay too – evidenced by his run to the third round at the Olympics, where he gave Zverev a tough time at Roland Garros.
He’s never gone beyond the third round of a Grand Slam event, but he’s achieved that feat three times already at the Australian Open.
If he can get that big serve working early on in 2025, and with the home crowd by his side, Popyrin could go past the third round – and far beyond it – at the Australian Open at the start of next year.
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