Alexei Popyrin’s daunting mission to topple Novak Djokovic

Alexei Popyrin is vying to become only the third current player to beat Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open. A former Aussie reveals how he can pull it off.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has not been beaten at the Australian Open since the fourth round of the 2018 tournament. Picture: William West / AFP

The mountain awaiting Alexei Popyrin on Wednesday night has only been climbed by eight players before him – beating Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park.

The 24-year-old Australian claims he will enter the biggest match of his career with “full confidence”, but in the back of his mind will be the reality that Djokovic has won the Australian Open more times than he has been knocked out during his incredible reign over the tournament.

Djokovic has pocketed more than $273m (US$181m) in prizemoney alone across his career. In comparison, Popyrin has a touch under $6m in his short career to date.

Djokovic was last beaten at Melbourne Park by unseeded Korean sensation Hyeon Chung in a straight-sets boilover in the fourth round in 2018, before he went on to amass a 43-match winning streak in all matches on Australian soil which only came to an end at the hands of Alex de Minaur a fortnight ago in the United Cup.

Both Chung, whose career has been cruelled by injury since his dash to the 2018 semi-final, and de Minaur are starkly different players to the 196cm Popyrin, who will rely on his size, powerful serve and forehand to try to unsettle the Serbian superstar tonight.

Hyeon Chung, now 27 and ranked outside the world top 1000 due to injuries, is the most recent player to have defeated Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open after he upset the superstar in straight sets during the 2018 fourth round. Picture: David Crosling

The 201cm former world No.67 Chris Guccione found Djokovic was comfortable neutralising his big serve when the pair met twice in 2007, and said Popyrin would need to deliver the most precise serving performance of his career to stand a chance.

“Whenever I played him, my whole game was focused around my serve, just trying to take care of my serve, get to the net, put the pressure on him and see what he comes up with,” Guccione said.

“(Popyrin) is going to have to serve very big and hit some very small areas of the court – if you hit big (areas) and he gets his racquet on it, he’s getting it back into play.

“Your work is definitely cut out for you, and that’s why he does so well against the big serves, he gets everything back and just builds pressure.”

Djokovic battled illness during his first-round win over Croatian teen Dino Prizmic, but appeared to be untroubled by his long-running right wrist problem which flared up during the loss to de Minaur on January 3.

Djokovic did not appear to be troubled by his right wrist in his first-round clash but complained of pain during his loss to Alex de Minaur a fortnight ago. Picture: William West / AFP

The 36-year-old has had no issues before pushing through injury all the way to the title – his camp claimed he suffered a 3cm hamstring tear in the build-up to last year’s tournament and he has previously brushed off abdominal and elbow complaints to win.

But Guccione said there was always the chance of the star’s wrist injury interfering with his game if his opponent began to put him under pressure.

“Depending on how painful (the wrist) is, every time you hit that shot it’s going to hurt, but it plays mind games as well,” he said.

“It distracts you, it puts you off a little bit, and whenever you’re struggling or losing, every little bit of pain feels worse compared to if you’ve got a bit of pain and you’re winning of course.”

Guccione said Popyrin had the tools to break into the world top 20, with the 24-year-old this week declaring his intent to qualify for this year’s Paris Olympics by consolidating his current ranking and remaining within the top four Australian players.

Former Australian tour mainstay Chris Guccione says Alexei Popyrin (pictured) has the tools to break into the world top 20. Picture: Morgan Hancock / Getty Images

“I think he’s got the game … from what I’ve seen of him, he’s got a big serve, big forehand, and he’ll get better the more mature he gets,” Guccione said.

“Hopefully we’ll get to see him in the top 20 sooner or later.”

Popyrin said he looked to Djokovic as the model of where his future improvement could lie.

“Novak has no weaknesses. For me, it’s a goal to get to that level,” Popyrin said on Monday.

“I know him personally, he doesn’t stop looking for ways to improve.

“I think that’s what has made him the greatest of all time. I think just having that kind of mentality is the way to go forward, and hopefully I can get there.”