Alexei Popyrin is lamenting a golden opportunity has gone begging after his hopes of reaching a grand slam quarterfinal for the first time were dashed in a tight four set loss to Frances Tiafoe at the US Open on Sunday night (US time).
The Australian has no doubt the moment he let slip a 40-0 lead when serving for the second set at 5-3 was the critical juncture in the match and believes that had he managed to convert one of the three opportunities he held, things might have panned out differently.
He went on to lose 6-4 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3.
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“(It is) definitely a lost opportunity,” he said.
“I’ve been saying all week that I think against these top players, you have to take your chances when you have them. Obviously 5-3, 40-love up (when) serving, it’s a really big choke from my end.
“A momentum swing is bound to happen to his side. I think I did a good job at 5-all to hold my serve and take it to a tiebreak, but he had momentum in that tiebreak and that’s just the way it went.
“But, yeah, that 5-3 game was an opportunity lost, and I think if it was one-set all, considering how the third set went and how I found a way to kind of neutralise his really good play, I think it could have been a little bit different.”
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It is said that tennis is a sport of fine margins and the past month of tennis has demonstrated that to Popyrin.
He fought his way through testing positions in Montreal on route to beating three top 10 players when winning a maiden Masters title for the first time.
Against Tiafoe, who has now reached the last eight in New York for three years in succession and had the overwhelming majority of the 24,000 fans in attendance at Arthur Ashe Stadium supporting him, the margins fell the way of a rival he considers a close mate.
He held break points early in the first set but failed to convert, only to throw in forehand errors when serving at 4-all which proved costly. The Australian was the better player for much of the second set, but a couple of errors gave Tiafoe a sniff in the game at 5-3 and he was good enough to nail a backhand winner on return to save a third set point. It was the shot of the match given the end result.
After dominating the third set, Popyrin pressured his rival early in the fourth set, but then erred under pressure midway through.
Having saved two match points with fabulous play at 3-5, he had an opportunity to snare the break back when, after a ripping rally where both players covered plenty of the court, an attempt at a forehand passing shot winning clipped the top of the net.
A couple of points later, a forehand from Tiafoe clipped the line, with the American not certain whether he had clinched victory until the umpire confirmed the shot was in.
“I think today, it was just luck wasn’t really on my side. I think that last game showed it all,” Popyrin said.
“I had a forehand in the middle of the court to break him and I just missed it. (I) slipped a little bit there on the way there, but I hit the net tape, and it didn’t go over.
“So … I think it’s a little bit of that. But honestly, I’m not taking anything away from him. He’s playing some scary tennis. If he continues it, he has a really good chance.”
The 25-year-old, who will rise to a career-high ranking in the low-to-mid 20s at the completion of this week, is determined to use the experiences over the past month in North America to push deeper in big tournaments in coming years.
His compatriot Nick Kyrgios believes the angular right-hander can use the past month, which included a breakthrough triumph in the Montreal Masters, as a launching pad for even more success on the court.
Tiafoe, who declared he “got lucky” in the second set, praised Popyrin for the level he is playing at and said he was far from surprised that the Australian had defeated Novak Djokovic two nights earlier.
“To be honest with you … Alexei has been playing unbelievable. He just won a Masters series,” he said.
“For me, being a tennis guy, (his defeat of Djokovic) wasn’t the most surprising thing in the world. Obviously beating Novak is a huge win at any point, any time, no matter where, when.
“I kind of feel like Alexei had the level. He showed it tonight. It was a really, really high level, so I had to come up with great stuff.”
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Popyrin believes he has been progressing for the best part of two years when, after dropping outside the top 100 at the end of 2022, he made some changes to his team and training and vowed to get fitter and tougher on the court.
“Why not? I think that’s the way you guys, (the) media, phrase things as a launchpad. It’s not … the way how we look at it or how my team and I look at it,” he said.
“I think it’s just progression over the course of a lot of hard work and a lot of years of hard work. It’s definitely going in the right track. I think I have confidence now going into the Asian swing and stuff.
“I hope it is a launchpad, but I think we’re going to go by a day-to-day basis and not think about that stuff and just try and focus on the next tournament that’s coming up and the work that we have ahead.”
While deflated at the chance gone begging, Popyrin was measured in his press conference afterwards, just as he was gracious in defeat when embracing and congratulating his rival at the net at the completion of the match.
“I’m telling everybody now (that) if you would have told me at the start of the summer I would have been 23 (on a live estimate) in the world, with a Masters title and a second week of a slam for the first time, I probably would have taken it considering the position I was in,” he said.
“If I hadn’t won a match in Montreal or Cincinnati, I probably would have dropped to outside 90 in the world. So considering all that, I think it was a very successful summer.
“It definitely does feel like a little opportunity lost. I think this match, you know, it was changed by I think one, two, or three points. I think he won three more points than I did all match and he won three sets. That just shows you how close it was.”
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