Paul too strong for Popyrin as Australia’s last man falls at Roland-Garros

Alexei Popyrin’s hopes of making a maiden grand slam quarter-final at Roland-Garros have ended in disappointing fashion as his game unravelled in a straight-sets demolition to American Tommy Paul.

There is a fear factor about Popyrin’s serve and forehand – quite often as a one-two punch – but the plan to beat the Australian typically revolves around peppering his weaker backhand as much as possible and exposing his movement.

No.12 seed Paul executed that strategy to perfection on Sunday to rout Popyrin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 inside two hours and become the first American men’s quarter-finalist at Roland-Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003.

Alexei Popyrin returns the ball to Tommy Paul during their fourth round match.Credit: AP

Popyrin was aiming to go one match further than his fourth-round appearance at last year’s US Open, where he ousted Novak Djokovic before losing to Frances Tiafoe, but he found the methodical Paul too tough.

“The level wasn’t there, but he made me feel really uncomfortable on the court, so that’s a credit to him,” Popyrin said.

“He played a technically great match. The type of ball that he hits is a little bit of a struggle for me, for some reason. We’re going to have to go [and] find out what that is and how to neutralise that.

“I’ve been banging on about consistency all weekend. This match was far from consistent on my end. I think, no matter how you feel on the court; you’re bound to have days when you don’t feel good on the court, and it’s just [about finding a] way to get through those days. That’s something I need to learn.”

Paul’s first quarter-final on Parisian clay goes along with his 2023 semi-final and 2025 quarter-final at the Australian Open, as well as last year’s Wimbledon quarter-final. He also reached the last 16 at the past two US Opens, and this latest win sees him leapfrog Alex de Minaur to No.8 in the live rankings.

De Minaur – a surprise second-round loser to Alex Bublik – sits 10th in those rankings, with Andrey Rublev and Tiafoe able to pass him, too, if they can advance deeper into the claycourt grand slam.

There were no signs of the abdominal strain that plagued Paul in the earlier rounds, or any lingering fatigue from back-to-back five-set victories over Karen Khachanov and Marton Fucsovics.

Tommy Paul proved too good for Alexei Popyrin in Paris.Credit: Getty Images

In reality, 25th-seeded Popyrin, who had lost six consecutive matches at Roland-Garros before this career-best run, was unable to place enough pressure on the American to find out.

Popyrin ruefully converted just one of 10 break points, including failing to break back from 0-40 as Paul served for the opening set. The American also escaped from 15-40 in the fourth and sixth games of the second set, adding insult to injury after Popyrin handed over an immediate break in the set.

Most Popyrin break points were similar: Paul often landed a first serve, then gradually created, and capitalised on, an opening in the court as Popyrin continued to lean towards his forehand side.

On others, he would inevitably commit a backhand error after an extended exchange or being cramped by Paul, or go for too much on a forehand.

Part of the issue was the heavier claycourt on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, which he had not played on until now. “It’s so slow,” a frustrated Popyrin bellowed after blasting a forehand into the net on his third break point in a row at 3-5 in the first set.

Popyrin struck 24 winners in barely two sets before Yoshihito Nishioka retired in the first round; pounded 37 in a straight-sets victory over Alejandro Tabilo; then 51 in a tight three-setter against Nuno Borges in the third round.

Against Paul, that number was 18, to go with 37 unforced errors. Paul’s ratio was 27:22.

The situation became particularly perilous in the second set, when it took until the penultimate point for Popyrin to hit his second winner.

Popyrin became more frustrated as the match wore on.Credit: Getty Images

“My backhand let me down big time today. [That is] not how I hit my backhand [or] how I’ve been hitting my backhand,” Popyrin said. “He managed to break down my backhand somehow, and we’re going to have to go back, watch that, and figure out why, and then we’ll work on it.”

It was in stark contrast to how Popyrin started, breaking Paul for the only time in the opening game with some bombastic forehands. But he gave the advantage straight back and spent the rest of the contest playing catch-up.

This was still a breakthrough tournament for Popyrin, who is set to rise to a career-high ranking of No.21.

Popyrin and Daria Kasatkina, who switched allegiances from Russia in March, were the first Australian man and woman to make the fourth round at Roland-Garros in the same year since Pat Cash and eventual semi-finalist Nicole Bradtke (née Provis) in 1988.

Kasatkina faces Russian teenage phenom and No.6 seed Mirra Andreeva on Monday night (AEST).

Popyrin last year not only made the fourth round at the US Open, but joined Lleyton Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis and Pat Rafter as the only Australian men to capture a Masters 1000 title when he triumphed in Montreal.

He struggled through a lean first half of this year, losing his first four matches and seven of his opening nine. Popyrin’s former co-coach Xavier Malisse split with him at Indian Wells, but the Australian shook that off to progress to the Monte-Carlo Masters quarter-finals a month later to supercharge his season.

Popyrin had a career-best run at Roland-Garros despite losing to Paul.Credit: Getty Images

Wayne Ferreira has joined fellow South African Neville Godwin in Popyrin’s team as they try to unlock the rest of his potential. Ferreira previously had success coaching the likes of Tiafoe and Jack Draper.

Popyrin needs to maintain his form as the tour switches to grass, then hardcourt, to avoid a rankings slide because he is defending about half his points in the second half of the year.

Watch all the action from Roland-Garros live & on-demand on Stan Sport, with two courts in 4K. Coverage of select matches free-to-air on 9GemHD and streaming on 9Now

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