Alexei Popyrin joined The AO Present this week to debate his profession milestone in Montreal, which knowledge analyst Simon Rea revealed had rather a lot to do with an improved return.
Montreal, Canada, 23 August 2024 | Rhys de Deugd
The Montreal Masters was a transformative breakthrough for Alexei Popyrin.
Not solely did it mark the largest title of his profession, but it surely was a breakthrough for his nation, as he grew to become the primary Australian ATP Masters 1000 champion since Lleyton Hewitt in 2003.
Popyrin defeated top-10 opponents Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz and Andrey Rublev on the way in which to the title, taking his whole to 4 top-10 wins this yr – probably the most of any season in his profession.
The Canadian Open champion mentioned what this main milestone meant to him on The AO Present Weekly.
“It’s huge for me. I don’t suppose many gamers undergo their profession and win a Masters 1000, and for me to have the ability to do that’s actually is a dream come true,” mentioned Popyrin throughout an interview which is able to run in full on Monday’s episode of The Sit-Down.
“(It) actually confirmed that I’m capable of play at that stage and play persistently at that stage which is a testomony to all of the arduous work we’ve carried out over the previous two years.”
LISTEN: Alexei Popyrin on The AO Present Weekly
Heading into the event ranked exterior the world’s high 60, Popyrin skyrocketed 39 locations after his title triumph to safe a seeded place on the upcoming US Open.
Will probably be the primary time the 25-year-old might be seeded at a Grand Slam event.
Popyrin credit the drastic enchancment to his group for making refinements to his recreation to assist him break new floor.
“My two coaches have been unbelievable for me, Neville Godwin and Xavier Malisse,” he defined.
“They type of flipped my recreation the other way up and type of mentally, helped me get again heading in the right direction after my very disappointing yr in 2022.”
His return of serve went to a brand new stage in Canada, as recognized by Simon Rea from Sport Perception Group.
Rea, on final week’s episode of The AO Present, famous that Popyrin was “making inroads” on second-serve returns.
The Australian had averaged 46 per cent of second-serve return factors gained up to now 12 months, a quantity which spiked to 65 per cent within the Montreal last towards Rublev.
| ALEXEI POPYRIN: SECOND-SERVE RETURN POINTS WON | ||
| Montreal match | Opponent | 2nd-serve return pts gained |
| 3R | Grigor Dimitrov | 49% |
| QF | Hubert Hurkacz | 52% |
| SF | Sebastian Korda | 63% |
| Remaining | Andrey Rublev | 65% |
A participant normally recognized extra so for his serve and highly effective forehand, Popyrin’s return recreation is an space he’s centered on growing, and it paid dividends in Montreal.
“It’s positively one thing that we’ve highlighted as a spot that we now have to enhance in. We now have been placing (in) work, however not type of over-the-top work… there have been a couple of changes that we made,” he mentioned.
“It’s been an enormous, large enchancment and it’s one thing that hopefully will proceed bettering.”
Returning so nicely helped Popyrin play with conviction and trigger successive upsets towards among the greatest names on tour.
Gaining perception and self-assurance from his historic run, he hopes he can take it with him and use it as a stepping stone to larger heights.
“It’s so wonderful to have the ability to play tennis once you’re excessive on confidence,” he mentioned.
“To have the ability to step on courtroom and really feel such as you’re capable of produce any shot or do something, that’s a sense that you just attempt to maintain perpetually.”
Discover your strategy to play: Go to play.tennis.com.au to get out on courtroom and have some enjoyable!
