Alexei Popyrin plots Jannik Sinner upset at US Open

ATP Tour

Popyrin plots Sinner upset, 12 months on from downing Djokovic

Australian faces World No. 1 Sinner on Thursday at the US Open

Elsa/Getty Images Alexei Popyrin in action during his first-round win on Tuesday at the US Open. By Andy West

Some serious North American summer momentum carried Alexei Popyrin to one of the biggest wins of his career at the 2024 US Open.

Arriving in New York just two weeks after lifting his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal, Popyrin upset four-time champion Novak Djokovic in the third round in New York in one of the memorable moments of the fortnight at Flushing Meadows.

“I think I was building up to it,” Popyrin, who had pushed Djokovic to four sets at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2024 before finally getting his man in New York, reflected to ATPTour.com. “The two matches that I played with him previously, at the Aussie Open and Wimbledon, were really tight.

“So I was walking out there obviously high on confidence because of Canada, but also high on confidence because of the previous two matches I had played against him. I knew exactly what I had to do, I knew how I had to play, and I just had to go out there and execute it and not fall apart at the big moments like I did in the previous two matches. I was able to get that done, and that’s how I felt.”

Novak Djokovic congratulates Alexei Popyrin after the pair's clash at the 2024 US Open. Photo Credit: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Popyrin will have the chance to notch another notable scalp inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday afternoon, when he meets Jannik Sinner in the second round of the 2025 US Open.

Yet the Australian’s reflections on his run last year in New York are more focused on what might have been. After defeating Djokovic, he missed out on a spot in his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final when he fell to home favourite Frances Tiafoe in four sets in the fourth round.

“I think it was a very good experience, but it’s something that I don’t really look back on,” admitted Popyrin of the Djokovic win. “I really appreciate that I had that experience, but it’s not something that really shocked me. I look back more on the Foe match than I do on the Djokovic match. Against Foe I feel like I missed opportunities, and I had the opportunity to make the quarter-finals of a Slam. I wasn’t able to get that done.”

Currently No. 36 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Popyrin is 16-18 in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. The 26-year-old Australian started his year by losing seven of his first nine matches, but he has since steadied the ship with a renewed focus on being more savvy with his big weapons: Popyrin possesses a big serve and fearsome forehand that, when firing, can leave even the ATP Tour’s finest powerless in their wake.

“I think that’s the thing, where my consistency in terms of results is kind of missing,” said Popyrin, when asked about the puzzle of knowing when to temper his brand of ‘big-man tennis’. “I can go for the big shots, I can take racquets out of people’s hands, but I can also lose matches just off my errors.

“Throughout the past six months, my main focus has been just solidifying my whole game and trying to play aggressive when I have to and trying to grind when I have to. If you look at my results in the past six months, they’ve been quite consistent. Two Masters quarter-finals, the second week of a Slam, another quarter-final in Geneva. So there’s consistency building in the past six months and I just want to keep it that way.”

Popyrin will step on court Thursday with a 1-0 lead against Sinner in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with their previous meeting taking place on clay in Madrid in 2020. If the Australian can repeat that result and topple defending champion Sinner in New York, he will this time be determined to back up such a big win.

“I feel like I bring my best game against the top guys, but when I play guys who are lower ranked than me, I tend to drop my level,” said the three-time tour-level titlist. “That’s been the problem throughout my career, but I’ve done a good job in the past six months and it’s something I just want to keep on improving all the time.”

Click here to read article