{"id":451630,"date":"2025-05-28T22:35:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T22:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=451630"},"modified":"2025-05-28T23:13:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T23:13:03","slug":"shock-result-blows-draw-open-for-aussie-grand-slam-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=451630","title":{"rendered":"Shock result blows draw open for Aussie grand slam hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia's Alexei Popyr\ufeffin<\/a> is eyeing a deep run at Roland-Garros after the shock exit of seventh seed Casper Ruud blew a sizeable hole in his side of the draw.<\/p>\n

Popyrin, the 25th seed in Paris, reached the third round of the French Open<\/a> for the first time on Thursday (AEST) with a clinical 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 dispatching of Chile's Alejandro Tabilo.<\/p>\n

Popyrin will now play Nuno Borges after the Portugese hope took advantage of Ruud's debilitating knee injury.<\/p>\n

Watch all the action from Roland Garros 2025<\/strong><\/em> live & on-demand on Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, with two courts in 4K UHD. Coverage of select matches free-to-air on 9GemHD<\/strong><\/em> and streaming on 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Alexei<\/p>\n

Borges advanced 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 as Ruud succumbed to an issue that has caused him issues throughout the clay court season.<\/p>\n

Ruud's pain is undoubtedly Popyrin's gain.<\/p>\n

The classy Dane is a two-time finalist at Roland-Garros and has reached at least the semi-finals in each of the last three years in Paris.<\/p>\n

PLAYER RATINGS:<\/strong> 'Real disappointment' called out in Maroons stinker\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Two brutal axings and the obvious inclusion Maroons need<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Spider cam reveals trainer's act that led to referee spray\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1927725258615779559<\/a><\/p>\n

He was also coming off a win at the Mad\ufeffrid Open earlier this month.<\/p>\n

"Very pumped," Popyrin told Duncan McKenzie-McHarg for Stan Sport's Grand Slam Daily<\/em>.<\/p>\n

"I think that was probably the most solid match I've played all year. It's how I want to play from now on, and it's the kind of level that I want to bring day in, day out. I'm really pleased with the way I played all around today."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1927820050393657362<\/a><\/p>\n

Popyrin hit 37 winners, eight aces and \ufeffwon 75 per cent of his first serve points.<\/p>\n

His 197cm height is one of his biggest weapons but his movement has also improved significantly and Tabilo struggled to find angles past him on Court 6.<\/p>\n

New coach Wayne Ferreira has attracted the headlines but the 25-year-old also credited fitness guru Evan Jenkins\ufeff for some crucial gains.<\/p>\n

\"Aussies<\/p>\n

"I always thought I could move well, but since I hired my fitness coach Evan, in Madrid last year, we've been just working a lot on getting the muscles stronger so that I can move a little bit quicker and get into positions and get out of positions quicker," he said.<\/p>\n

"That's a big, big key and a big, big way that I want to keep playing – is moving well, getting to balls and making things difficult for players.<\/p>\n

"Today was was a great show of how I can move and it's just doing it day in, day out and keeping it consistent."<\/p>\n

\"Keys<\/p>\n

It all worked out beautifully in the end for Popyrin – but it almost went horribly wrong.<\/p>\n

McKenzie-McHarg had to ask a sheepish \ufeffPopyrin about his third set bathroom blunder.<\/p>\n

"No, look, it was my fault. I didn't go at the end of the second set," he said.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1927691632112976227<\/a><\/p>\n

"I always know that after the second set I'm busting and I was too lazy to go, so that's my fault. And at 2-1 I started feeling my stomach, really painful, so I was like, shit, I gotta go.<\/p>\n

"And then I tried to go without any notice and the door was locked. I had to wait another two games and then I went and luckily the rain came, so it delayed it a little bit and I was able to go.<\/p>\n

"I should go after the second set. I'll learn from that now."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1927672277006438726<\/a><\/p>\n

Borges is ranked 41st and is the first Portuguese man to reach the French Open's third round.<\/p>\n

"Really tricky customer. He has also got a really flat backhand which causes trouble to a lot of players, so it's going to be a really tough match," Popyrin told reporters.<\/p>\n

"I've always had that confidence, I think, that on my day I can beat anybody. But that's not important to me. What is important to me is bringing a consistent level day in, day out. And that's what I've struggled with in the past.<\/p>\n

\"Popyrin<\/p>\n

"So when I play a higher ranked player, I tend to bring a good level and I give it a shot to to win. And I think I've done that in the past a lot, but it's just consistently bringing that level, even against lower ranked opponents."<\/p>\n

Popyrin is one of four \ufeffAustralians left in the singles draw along with Alex de Minaur, Adam Walton and Daria Kasatkina.<\/p>\n

Ajla Tomljanovic was knocked out 6-3, 6-3 by world No.4 Jasmine Paolini of Italy on Thursday (AEST).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia's Alexei Popyr\ufeffin is eyeing a deep run at Roland-Garros after the shock exit of seventh seed Casper Ruud blew a sizeable hole in his […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":451634,"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\/451630"}],"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=451630"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":451641,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451630\/revisions\/451641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/451634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=451630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=451630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=451630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}