With just one Aussie woman left at the French Open, Alexei Popyrin has high hopes after making third round
After ending a six-year streak of first-round exits in Paris, Aussie Alexei Popyrin is riding a confidence wave but the female presence looks bleak.
Tennis
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New Australian Daria Kasatkina is the lone female alive at the French Open after Ajla Tomljanovic’s defeat as Alexei Popyrin declared he can “beat anybody” after powering into the third round with the draw now in his favour.
Popyrin, the boys’ champion at Roland Garros in 2017, ended a six-year opening-round losing streak before taking down Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets and is riding all sorts of confidence going into his match with Portugal’s world No.41 Nune Borges.
The draw has opened up for Popyrin, the 25th seed, after Borges took down two-time finalist Casper Ruud.
“I’ve always had that confidence. On my day I can beat anybody, but that’s not important to me. What’s important to me is bringing a consistent level day in, day out,” Popyrin said.
“That’s what I’ve struggled with in the past.”
Popyrin was the first Australian into the third round with compatriots Adam Walton, Alex de Minaur and Kasatkina still to play their second-round matches.
But Tomljanovic, who took out fellow Aussie Maya Joint in the opening round, failed in her centre court appearance, losing with a double-fault to round out a lacklustre effort against No.4 seed Jasmine Paolin, going down 6-3, 6-3.
Tomljanovic, 32, conceded she didn’t find her “A game” when it mattered most but said she would leave Paris “optimistic”
“It was a tough performance out there,” she said.
“My dad (coach Ratko) used to say ‘we’ve got 12 more of those grand slams you can play’. And now I know it’s not 12 anymore, the number is smaller.
“There were still moments where I played some good points, good games, and I definitely leave Paris feeling optimistic with happy memories again.”
Originally published as With just one Aussie woman left at the French Open, Alexei Popyrin has high hopes after making third round
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