Alexei Popyrin reveals injury, illness concerns after first-round Australian Open loss

Alexei Popyrin has opened up on the disappointment of crashing out of the Australian Open in the first round, but refused to blame the hidden ailments he was battling for his demise.

Alexei Popyrin says a return of a glute injury and four-day illness was not to blame for his “shocking” performance in a first-round loss to Corentin Moutet.

The Australian’s Open hopes flamed out in gutsy fashion after suffering a recurring glute injury coupled with hamstring cramp in the second set on Tuesday night.

The Sydneysider also said he had been sick in the days leading up to the match and sought out a doctor only hours before his first-round clash.

While he fought on bravely for almost four hours, Popyrin delivered a scathing assessment of his game and in particular his serve which was under pressure all night.

“Throughout the week I have had, like, little niggles. I had abdominal niggles. I’ve been sick for four days. Still am sick,” Popyrin said.

“I had to go to the doctor’s office today to get some meds. It’s not an excuse, nothing like that for me.

“I’m disappointed with the way I played. Like, I take full responsibility with the way that I played, and, you know, it was shocking.

“It was really bad. And I know I can do better.”

Alexei Popyrin strikes a forehand during his first-round loss. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Corentin Moutet enjoys his win over Popyrin. Picture: Mark Stewart

Popyrin thanked the local fans for helping lift him against the man Popyrin said had a 16-1 record over him since they started playing against each other in juniors.

Popyrin said he felt a “sharp pain” in his left glute as he scrambled to chase down a Moutet drop shot and had to grit his teeth through the rest of the match.

“I have obviously had a little bit of a physical struggles, but hey, that’s tennis. You have to find a way to battle through it,” he said.

“I didn’t do it. I think this guy’s got a way of making you play bad tennis, and I feel like I played some pretty shocking tennis today.

“But, you know, it’s a tricky opponent, and it was always going to be tough. He’s always been my Achilles heel since I was eight years old.

“My record is 16 and 1 to him (Moutet). Yeah, it’s a little bit tricky to play him for me.

“But, hey, the crowd did their part, and I didn’t do my part, you know, so that’s the toughest thing for me to take.”

Popyrin said he was disappointed with his two losses to start the year including a two-set defeat to Italian Matteo Arnaldi in Brisbane.

The 25-year-old said he would likely need three weeks to recover from the glute injury which had troubled him in the past.

But he said his team would also take the opportunity to assess his game more broadly after a poor start to the year which followed a career-best 2024 season.

“I’m known to show heart, but I also want to be known for showing tennis consistently. That’s been my main goal for my whole career,” he said.

“You know, I have shown good tennis in glimpses, and for me I want to show it consistently.

“It’s been a very disappointing month for me, to come to Australia off the back of your best year and lose for two matches is not something I kind of expected.

“It’s not been an easy month, that’s for sure. We’re going to have to take a step back, look at what went wrong, and just work from there.

“I haven’t been in this position before, so I don’t really know what I have to do, but it’s all part of the experience.”

Originally published as Alexei Popyrin reveals injury, illness concerns after first-round Australian Open loss