{"id":419505,"date":"2024-08-30T03:52:22","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T03:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=419505"},"modified":"2024-08-30T05:09:06","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T05:09:06","slug":"popyrin-hoping-its-third-time-lucky-in-djoker-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=419505","title":{"rendered":"Popyrin hoping it's third time lucky in Djoker showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

* Matt Trollope is a journalist for Tennis Australia, which has contributed this piece<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic<\/a> has proved an insurmountable hurdle for Alexei Popyrin<\/a> at the grand slams this year.<\/p>\n

Djokovic stopped Popyrin in four sets in the second round of the Australian Open<\/a>, and then again at Wimbledon<\/a>, again in four sets, but this time in the third round.<\/p>\n

DAY 1 WRAP:<\/strong> Aussies' first Paris gold medal, flag bearer's bronze<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie rips US Open officials after epic upset win<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Three years after near-death emergency, Gallagher wins gold<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

They meet at the same stage of the 2024 US Open<\/a>, where Djokovic is the defending champion and riding the high of winning Olympic gold<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The world No.2 has the added motivation of winning an all-time record 25th grand slam singles title this fortnight in New York.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But on Saturday morning (AEST) he will encounter a different Popyrin, a player who recently broke through for his first ATP Masters 1000 crown in Montreal, and who is surging with confidence.<\/p>\n

Seeded for the first time at a major, is this the occasion Popyrin turns the tables on a player he describes as the Greatest of All Time?<\/p>\n

"I had chances in both matches and it's just a matter of taking those chances and playing good on the big points," said Popyrin, who won his second round clash with Spaniard Pedro Martinez Portero 6-2 6-4 6-0 in sweltering conditions.<\/p>\n

\ufeffWatch the 2024 US Open tennis for free on<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. Every match will be ad-free, live and on demand with Centre Court in 4K UHD on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Novak<\/p>\n

"That's what he did well those two matches [at the Australian Open and Wimbledon] and what I didn't do too well. If I can do that, then who knows what can happen?<\/p>\n

"But I just want to keep playing the way I have been the last two or three weeks; I think I feel really good out there."<\/p>\n

Popyrin appeared on this week's episode of The Sit-Down<\/em> podcast and discussed the belief he currently had in his game. He beat five consecutive top-20 players \u2013 including three inside the top 10 \u2013 to win the biggest title of his career in Canada.<\/p>\n

"The confidence that I have right now \u2026 It's so amazing to be able to play tennis when you're high on confidence," he said.<\/p>\n

\"Popyrin<\/p>\n

But it will take a herculean effort to unseat Djokovic, a player against whom he trails the head-to-head 0-3, and someone he admitted he does not enjoy playing.<\/p>\n

"I think at AO, I had two or three set points at 5-4 to go two-sets-to-one up, so I think that one was probably the closest [compared to Wimbledon], and that one hurt more," Popyrin said.<\/p>\n

"I enjoy the moment, I enjoy playing on a big court. I'm sure it'll be Arthur Ashe, and I've never been on it, never even stepped foot on it, so we'll see how it is. I enjoy the big moments and the big courts, I think you guys know that.<\/p>\n

"But he's obviously the greatest of all time and a really tough opponent, and I don't think anybody enjoys playing him."<\/p>\n

\"Djoker<\/p>\n

Djokovic, who reached the Wimbledon final before his Olympic breakthrough, enters the match under a slight cloud.<\/p>\n

He received medical treatment after the first set of his second-round match against compatriot Laslo Djere, and it took two sapping hours to complete the first two sets, before Djere ultimately retired early in the third.<\/p>\n

Djokovic admitted he'd been struggling on serve so far in New York.<\/p>\n

"But I'm fine. I'll find my way, as I have done many times in my career," he added.<\/p>\n

He did recognise, however, that Popyrin represented a tough assignment at this point his title defence.<\/p>\n

\"Djokovic<\/p>\n

"I'm happy to win four-set another time, don't get me wrong," Djokovic said with the hint of a smile.<\/p>\n

"But he keeps on getting closer and closer, knocking on that door.<\/p>\n

"He's a really good player. We always knew he has a big serve and forehand, but I think his backhand and his movement improved a lot. So he's much better defending, and he's more consistent. He doesn't make as many errors as he used to. Just overall great improvement from his side.<\/p>\n

"He's pumped. He's confident, and he shows that. He's been playing some great tennis, so no reason for him not to believe that he can put up a great performance, and he's going to go for the win.<\/p>\n

"But I know what to expect as well. We played a couple of times. I'm going to, of course, do my homework, analyse those matches, and see what needs to be done."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

* Matt Trollope is a journalist for Tennis Australia, which has contributed this piece Novak Djokovic has proved an insurmountable hurdle for Alexei Popyrin at […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":419507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419505"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=419505"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":419512,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419505\/revisions\/419512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/419507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=419505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=419505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=419505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}