Alexei Popyrin’s Australian Open 2023 campaign ends in the third round against fast-rising American Ben Shelton.
Melbourne, Australia, 21 January 2023 | Vivienne Christie
When Alexei Popyrin returned to John Cain Arena for his third-round Australian Open match, he encountered a disarmingly similar opponent in Ben Shelton.
Shelton, like Popyrin, had built his game around an explosive serve and as the young American’s confidence grew throughout the two-hour encounter, he used it with devastating intensity.
The added element for the world No.89 was his nothing-to-lose fearlessness. Shelton wasn’t simply contesting his first tournament outside American but is also travelling for the first time outside his homeland.
And as all those factors combined, the 20-year-old added to his remarkable recent rise with a 6-3 7-6(4) 6-4 victory over the Australian – disarming both the exuberant home crowd support and Popyrin’s usual firepower.
“I just thought it was really important than I stepped up and played a little more offensive,” said Shelton, who recorded 34 winners against 25 unforced errors and converted two of his eight break point encounters.
“I’ve seen Popyrin play his last few matches and he’s been bullying people around the court, so I thought it was important today to try and take it to him and I thought I did a good job of it.”
> READ: De Minaur charges into Australian Open fourth round
For Popyrin, there are many positives to take from a sixth campaign at his home Grand Slam – most notably, consecutive five-set victories over Tseng Chun-Hsin and against No.8 seed Taylor Fritz.
In an Australian summer that saw Popyrin qualifying for the Adelaide International stun No.2 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first round, there was also a successful start to his new coaching partnership with former top-20 ATP player, Xavier Malisse.
By matching his best result at the Australian Open, the world No.113 Popyrin is projected to return to the world’s top-100 when ATP rankings are next released.
There was better news for fellow Australian Alex de Minaur, who moved into the Australian Open fourth round for a second straight year, after a straight-sets victory over Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
TODAY’S RESULTS
Men’s singles, third round
[22] Alex de Minaur (AUS) d Benjamin Bonzi (FRA) 7-6(0) 6-2 6-1
Ben Shelton (USA) d [WC] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-3 6-4 6-4
COMING UP
Men’s singles, fourth round
[22] Alex de…
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