Alexei Popyrin reveals key to Olympic success after victory over Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka

As the crowd went wild for his opponent, Alexei Popyrin was focused on just one man in the front row at his second round match.

As the crowd went wild for his opponent, Alexei Popyrin was focused on just one man in the front row at his second round match: Lleyton Hewitt.

Popyrin said having Hewitt courtside helped him to “stay in my own bubble” and pull off a stunning 6-4 7-5 victory over Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka in sweltering conditions at Roland Garros.

“I just kept eye contact with Lleyton and that was all that mattered,” he said.

“I didn’t let the crowd affect me too much.”

Australia's Alexei Popyrin returns to Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka during their men's singles second round tennis match. Picture: Miguel Medina/AFP

Fans of Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka cheer him on in his men's singles second round tennis match against Alexei Popyrin. Picture: Miguel Medina/AFP

In a poetic twist, Popyrin, 24, is the first man to reach the round of 16 at an Olympics since Hewitt did it at London 2012.

“I think it’s quite special whenever you have your name mentioned in the same kind of sentence as Lleyton,” he said.

“Hopefully I can go one step further, but it is special.”

Hot weather alerts were issued for Paris on Tuesday as temperatures soared to 35C by midday, leaving players and spectators desperately trying to keep cool.

Popyrin, who played in the midafternoon, said the heat worked in his favour.

“The ball was more lively, so that kind of helped me on my serve,” he said.

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He did not face a single break point for the match, and deployed a strategy to tire Wawrinka out by running him across the court.

“At the end of the day, he is 39 years old,” he said.

“So, if I got him moving from side to side a little bit then it would kind of affect him, but his ball quality and his ball strike makes it hard for you to dictate.”

Alexei Popyrin in sweltering heat at Roland Garros on Tuesday. Picture: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Popyrin will face German reigning gold medallist and current world number four Alexander Zverev in the next round.

“It’s not going to be easy but if I focus on myself and focus on the game that I can play then I can cause damage to these players,” he said.

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His win was a desperately needed boost for the Australians after a shaky start to the tennis competition.

Popyrin was the only singles player to progress beyond the first round, after sixth-ranked Alex de Minaur withdrew due to injury.

Three of the five doubles pairings also crashed out in round one, but men’s pairing Matthew Ebden and John Peers won their Tuesday match and will now play in the quarterfinals.