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Emotional moment Australian young underdog Alexei Popyrin breaks down in tears after shocking the world by defeating American Taylor Fritz in a five-set thriller to reach the third round of the Australian Open.
- Alexei Popyrin knocks out No.8 seed Taylor Fritz in five sets
- The Australian got emotional after his mammoth win.
- Popyrin advances to the third round for the third time
Australian Alexei Popyrin has been in tears after claiming a momentous victory, knocking out world number 9 Taylor Fritz to advance to the third round of the Australian Open.
Popyrin’s newfound fitness paid big dividends as he pulled back less than 48 hours after a marathon five-setter to produce another thrilling 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-7 ( 6-8) 6-2 victory on Thursday.
The 23-year-old hammered 19 aces and dropped serve just once in a thrilling and grueling four-hour, two-minute contest, in which the Australian prevailed to reach the third round for the third time.
As he was talking after the game with Casey Dellacqua, what he had just accomplished began to tell and he could barely hold back the tears.
Alexei Popyrin delivered a huge upset at the Australian Open after knocking out Taylor Fritz
Popyrin, who entered the tournament with a wild card, won a five-set thriller on Thursday, and speaking in the post-match interview, tears welled up in her eyes as her achievement was established.
“This victory means a lot to me, I had the most difficult year last year in which I didn’t win many matches… I’ve won as many matches this year as I did all of last year and it’s only January”, Alexei Popyrin said.
“This win means a lot to me, I had the most difficult year last year where I didn’t win many games,” Popyrin said.
‘I’ve won as many games this year as I did all of last year and it’s only January.
I’m going to keep going because I love this feeling, I want more of this feeling.
‘I want you guys to have this feeling… this is the dream for me and I don’t want to wake up at all.’
American star Fritz is the latest in a swath of stars to be eliminated early on
The 23-year-old hammered 19 aces and dropped serve just once in a thrilling and grueling four-hour, two-minute contest, in which the Australian prevailed to reach the third round for the third time.
Fritz, a hero of Team USA’s season-opening United Cup triumph in Sydney, sprained his right ankle late in the third set and complained about crowd noise during the fourth when the match faded away
Popyrin, meanwhile, rode the energy of the crowd at John Cain Arena and served brilliantly to take his most impressive win yet at Melbourne Park.
The 23-year-old previously advanced to the last 32 in 2019, when seventh seed Dominic Thiem retired injured, and again in 2020.
Also the winner of last year’s Indian Wells Masters 1000, Fritz grabbed his lower right leg late in the third set and called a medical time-out after Popyrin won it to take a two sets to one lead.
Popyrin rallied after failing to convert a match point at the break of the fourth set to break Fritz for the third time, then a fourth, and claim the biggest win of his career.
Popyrin will face another American, world number 89 Ben Shelton, in the third round with a golden opportunity to reach the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time.