Interview Popyrin: "I'm able to compete with the best in the world"

"Playing in slams as a junior is very important"

There is a general rule of thumb on the men’s Tour that if you win a junior Grand Slam singles title, then, with a fair wind and luck with injuries, you will probably end up in the world’s top 100 and make a good living as a professional.

Many former junior champions go on to win slams at senior level – including the likes of Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Iga Swiatek - but others take time to find their feet. But whatever the path, the foundation that winning a big title at junior level creates usually comes good at some stage.

It is seven years since Alexei Popyrin won the boys title at Roland-Garros in 2017. Since then, the Australian has worked his way steadily up the senior rankings but has found things hard going in the slams, where he is still trying to make it through to the second week for the first time.

“It seems like a long time ago,” Popyin said, in an interview for rolandgarros.com. “Seven years ago, I think that's a very long time ago. I don't quite remember how the day went but at the time, it was such a huge thing. When you look back on it, juniors is (maybe) not that big of a deal; winning grand slams definitely was a great experience for me, but what comes next definitely doesn't come easy. That's for sure.”

But a win at a slam gives a player confidence that they can do it under pressure and prepares them for the kind of intensity they’ll face when they become a professional.

“Just playing in slams as a junior is very important because it gives you the idea of what to expect if you do make it, so that when you do make it for the first time, you're not really starstruck or anything like that,” Popyrin said.

“I was able to hit with a few top players during that time there, including Dominic Thiem, so I was able to kind of play with them. That definitely helps and you definitely improve your game there.”

"Confidence levels are definitely high right now"

Fast forward to 2024 and Popyrin enters the US Open on an all-time high, having won the biggest title of his career earlier this month in Montreal, where he became the first Australian to win a Masters 1000 title since Lleyton Hewitt in 2003. At 6ft 5in, Popyrin possesses a big serve and has always had talent but beating Ben Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz, Sebastian Korda and Andrey Rublev, all in tight matches, was a career-defining moment.

“I think we all knew that I had the game to be able to beat one top 10 player, but over the years, I haven't been able to back up that win. But that week I was able to do it, and hopefully it can continue,” he said.

“Confidence levels are definitely high right now. I think it's hard not to have high confidence after a win like that. It’s definitely a good feeling getting on the tennis court and having such confidence. Hopefully that can stay on for a while.”

Popyrin can't quite seem to decide if clay or hard courts are his favourite surface but he is becoming an all-round player, capable on any surface, having worked hard with his coaches, Xavier Malisse and Neville Godwin, on his consistency and with a sports psychologist on his mental strength.

A third-round battle with Novak Djokovic is looming large at the US Open and having pushed him hard in two four-set battles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon earlier this year, he knows he’s close.

“I think (those matches) just shows that I'm able to compete with the best in the world,” he said. “What I take from it is that when I walked out, I kind of felt comfortable. I wasn't starstruck or anything like that. I walked out onto the court and I felt like it was just another match for me. That's something that with maturity and experience over the years, it comes to you naturally now and it came to me naturally those two times.”

The question now is whether his recent triumph and current form will enable him to do even better in case of a third meeting with the "Djoker" in 2024...