Australian Open: Popyrin ‘looking forward’ to Djokovic clash after first round win

Local favourite Alexei Popyrin defeated wildcard Marc Polmans 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-2 to reach the second round of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday.

This is the fifth time in seven main draw appearances that Popyrin has won his first round match at his home Grand Slam; his best performance has been a third round finish in 2019, 2020 and 2023.

“I’m going in there with full confidence” – Popyrin ON TAKING DJOKOVIC

Popyrin, ranked No 43, will play Serb Novak Djokovic, the top seed and 10-time Australian Open winner, for a place in the third round. The Serb has a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head over Popyrin.

“I’m looking forward to playing him,” Popyrin said after his win as quoted by Tennis Australia. “I’ve watched (Novak) play since I was a kid … I last played him when I was 19. I’ve improved since then, so we’ll see what I can bring.”

“I’m going in there with full confidence. If I don’t go in there with that confidence, there’s no point going in there. So for me it’s no other match. It’s just me playing the World No. 1. It’s just another match for me.”

The last meeting between the two came in 2019 when Popyrin was still a teenager and he’s hoping his experience and maturity since then will give him a better chance this time around.

“I played him when I was 19 years old. I just broke the top 100 when I played him, qualified for that tournament. I remember that I was physically just not up to par to him. Now I’m 24 years old, five years later, a bit more experienced, bit more mature. A bit physically stronger. I would say much more physically stronger. I think for me it’s just playing, like I said, playing the way that I have to play and focusing more on myself than who is on the opposite side of the net.”

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Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round matches (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58,910,000):

• Ben Shelton (16) beat Roberto Bautista Agut: 6-2, 7-6 (2), 7-5
• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Terence Atmane (Q): 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 ret.
• Emil Ruusuvuori beat Patrick Kypson (WC): 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
• Sebastian Korda (29) beat Vit Kopriva (Q): 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2
• Flavio Cobolli (Q) beat Nicolas Jarry (18): 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
• Lorenzo Musetti (25) beat Benjamin Bonzi: 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2
• Hugo Gaston (LL) beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
• Frances Tiafoe (17) beat Borna Coric: 6-3, 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-3
• Novak Djokovic beat Dino Prizmic (Q): 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4
• Quentin Halys beat Lloyd Harris (Q): 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (2)
• Daniel Elahi Galan beat Jason Kubler (WC): 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (8)
• Sebastian Baez (26) beat J.J. Wolf: 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 3-0 ret.
• Taylor Fritz (12) beat Facundo Diaz Acosta: 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Jesper De Jong (Q) beat Pedro Cachin: 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
• Christopher O’Connell beat Cristian Garin: 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
• Tomas Machac beat Shintaro Mochizuki (LL): 7-5, 6-1, 7-5
• Andrey Rublev (5) beat Thiago Seyboth Wild: 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6)
• Fabian Marozsan beat Marin Čilić: 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
• Francisco Cerundolo (22) beat Dane Sweeny (Q): 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
• Pavel Kotov beat Arthur Rinderknech: 7-5, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-3
• Jannik Sinner (4) beat Botic van de Zandschulp: 6-4, 7-5, 6-3
• Matteo Arnaldi beat Adam Walton (WC): 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-4
• Jaume Munar beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
• Richard Gasquet vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• Alexander Zverev vs. Dominik Koepfer
• Daniel Evans vs. Lorenzo Sonego
• Sebastian Ofner vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis
• Mackenzie McDonald vs. Juncheng Shang
• Alexander Bublik vs. Sumit Nagal
• Tommy Paul vs. Gregoire Barrere
• Holger Rune vs. Yoshihito Nishioka
• SoonWoo Kwon vs. Lukas Klein
• Marcos Giron vs. Jack Draper
• Max Purcell vs. Mate Valkusz
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Marton Fucsovics
• Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs. Casper Ruud
• Dusan Lajovic vs. Giulio Zeppieri
• Cameron Norrie vs. Juan Pablo Varillas
• Bernabe Zapata Miralles vs. Jiri Lehecka
• James McCabe vs. Alex Michelsen
• Roman Safiullin vs. Tallon Griekspoor
• Arthur Fils vs. Jiri Vesely
• Laslo Djere vs. Arthur Cazaux
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Dominic Thiem
• Alex De Minaur vs. Milos Raonic
• Omar Jasika vs. Hubert Hurkacz
• Andy Murray vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
• Rinky Hijikata vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
• Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Yosuke Watanuki
• Alexandre Muller vs. Hugo Grenier
• Zhizhen Zhang vs. Federico Coria
• Ugo Humbert vs. David Goffin
• Alejandro Tabilo vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic
• Yannick Hanfmann vs. Gael Monfils
• Christopher Eubanks vs. Taro Daniel
• Aleksandar Vukic vs. Jordan Thompson
• Maximilian Marterer vs. Nuno Borges
• Daniel Altmaier vs. Karen Khachanov
• Denis Shapovalov vs. Jakub Mensik
• Zizou Bergs vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
• James Duckworth vs. Luca Van Assche
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Stan Wawrinka
• Constant Lestienne vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina