Alexei Popyrin will become just the third man in history to meet Novak Djokovic at three Grand Slams in the same calendar year when he takes to New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium in Friday evening’s prime time session.
Popyrin follows only Roger Federer in 2011 and Matteo Berrettini in 2021, in playing Djokovic at three separate majors; and will be seeking to reach the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Whilst all the Federer and Berrettini clashes came at the quarterfinals stage or later, each of Popyrin’s fixtures with Djokovic has come inside the first week, in what is an incredible run of misfortune.
But the 25-year-old Aussie enters this encounter with confidence, having won eight of his past nine matches, highlighted by a dream run to the Canadian Masters title.
And having taken many learnings from the pair’s battles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, Popyrin believes he’s capable of matching the twenty-four time major champ.
“I learnt that I’m able to compete with him,” Popyrin said after his US Open second-round victory.
“He’s the greatest of all time and one of the best players in the world right now. But I’m able to go toe to toe with him, and just in the important points, he steps up a little, and I just have to expect that on Friday,”
Although the odds are heavily stacked against Popyrin, as an Aussie, there are reasons to believe.
Firstly, few players on the planet are playing better tennis than the 25-year-old is currently.
Popyrin has six top-20 victories this year and five came inside the past three weeks, as he toppled Ben Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz, Sebastian Korda, and Andrey Rublev en route to a maiden Masters 1000 title.
And despite one understandable hiccup in Cincinnati, the 25-year-old has carried that form into Flushing Meadows, dropping just sixteen games in the opening two rounds, including a 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 trouncing of world No.43 Pedro Martinez to mark his most dominant win at a major.
Secondly, we know he can compete.
Djokovic and Popyrin’s two encounters this year have been incredibly competitive and largely decided by few, significant ‘pressure points’.
In Melbourne particularly, the Aussie had control of the contest before an inability to convert set points – and a crowd member sparking Djokovic – saw the Serbian close it out.
“I genuinely believe I could have won that match, if I had won that third set,” Popyrin said at the time.
“I feel like I was in the driver’s seat, and I felt super comfortable out there, and enjoyed every moment. (Djokovic) is a super-solid player, but I do feel he gives you chances every now and then.”
Additionally, Djokovic has admittedly been far from his best through the opening two rounds in New York and may be vulnerable to an upset, at the major where he has enjoyed his least success.
The world number two is playing his first event since an emotional Olympic campaign which saw him win gold and define it the ‘greatest achievement’ of his career; a high which is naturally difficult to come down from.
And upsets have been the trend at this year’s US Open, with fourteen seeds already bowing out on the men’s side, including Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz, who fell in straight sets in the second round.
However, it’s difficult to ever doubt Djokovic, especially in the early rounds of a Grand Slam; but at the ripe age of 37, he’s bound to start dropping a few matches that should be wins.
Ultimately, the matchup presents another significant opportunity for a maturing Aussie seeking a major scalp, and the action will all get underway from 9am Saturday morning (AEST) across Channel 9 and Stan Sport in Australia.
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