Australian Open: Alexei Popyrin vows to attack Daniil Medvedev

Alexei Popyrin has vowed to play an aggressive game against Russian star Daniil Medvedev.

Alexei Popyrin, who faces No 4 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday night. Picture: AAP

Alexei Popyrin will attack his Australian Open third-round clash with Russian star Daniil Medvedev on Saturday night with a vow to be as aggressive as possible.

The 20-year-old Australian has demonstrated he has the weapons and mental aptitude to test the world’s best players in encouraging forays into grand slam tennis over the past 12 months.

Popyrin’s game plan to bring down the US Open finalist on Rod Laver Arena sounds simple in what is the biggest match of his ­career, but the reality is likely to be far more difficult.

Expect the rangy right-hander to attempt to turn the match into a forehand game and also approach the net as much as possible after pushing Medvedev to four sets at Wimbledon last July.

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These are areas where Popy­rin’s camp believe the Davis Cup representative is capable of testing Medvedev, a player who has emerged as the leading major contender outside the big three of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

“I’m always going to be ­aggressive,” Popyrin said.

“I’m always going to try to be on the front foot, come into the net and have the big serve. If it’s clay, if it’s grass, if it’s hard, if the balls are fast, it’s the same game.”

Medvedev joined the company of Australian Open champions Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi as the only men in history to reach four tour finals in succession during the North American hardcourt swing last August and September.

Nick Kyrgios beat him in the decider in Washington DC before Nadal was too good for him in the Canadian Open final. The 23-year-old defeated Djokovic en route to a maiden Masters title in Cincinnati and then pushed Nadal in an epic US Open final at Flushing Meadows. He continued a ­remarkable run of form with wins in St Petersburg and then in the Shanghai Masters, where he beat Alexander Zverev in the final.

As Popyrin noted, Medvedev is “probably the hottest opponent you could get right now”.

“That was unreal. I think everybody was in shock with that performance. Making how many finals in a row? I don’t even know. He shocked everybody,” the Australian said.

Popyrin’s camp is well aware that if he is to get drawn into playing Medvedev’s backhand, he will be playing Russian roulette, ­except with the gun fully loaded.

A battle of the baseline will not cut it, which means Popyrin must serve extremely well and be able to position himself to attack whenever an opportunity presents.

“I think hard is probably his favourite surface. He can stand where he stands on the baseline and just get every single ball back,” he said. “I think we’re both more comfortable on the baseline. But I’m looking to come in a lot. I’m looking to be aggressive. I think there are a lot of similarities with our game.”

Irrespective of the result against the world No 4, Popyrin has reason to be proud of his ­efforts in Melbourne. It is the first time he has arrived at a tournament having to defend significant ranking points, which he earned by reaching the third round here last year. As a result, Popyrin will keep his ranking ­inside the top 100, which is important as he seeks to build his career with greater consistency on the regular ATP Tour.

“On the ATP it was kind of a mixed bag, qualifying but not ­winning many matches in main draws of ATPs,” he said. “That’s one thing I’m looking to change this year, is to perform well in grand slams and keep performing well (elsewhere). Hopefully I can win more matches on the ATP main draw.”