Belief is continuing to grow for Alexei Popyrin, reaching his second ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final against No.7 seed Grigor Dimitrov in Montreal.
Facing a tense moment in the second set down 5-6 on serve, the Aussie saved three match points to send the contest into a tiebreak and eventually a decider.
A reliable 80 per cent first serve statistic helped him breeze through the majority of his service games, stepping into the court as he punished the Bulgarian in the latter stages.
Two hours and 38 minutes later, the 25-year-old wrapped up a dramatic 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 victory.
“I’m feeling good. I think I played three really good matches against three really good opponents,” said Popyrin, who also upset 11th seed Ben Shelton and world No.39 Tomas Machac en route to the last eight.
“For me to be able to come through the first two rounds in straight sets and get a good win against Grigor, it gives me a lot of confidence going into the next round.”
Popyrin will face No.4 seed Hubert Hurkacz tomorrow at 4am AEST, having already sealed his return to the top 50 - and could potentially move up a further 10 places with a semi-final berth. His career-high ranking stands at No.38.
“I think now, after this tournament, I’ll be feeling quite good, but I’ve just got to keep the work going and keep the momentum going,” Popyrin said.
As per OptaAce, since the format’s inception in 1990, Popyrin is the third Australian to claim top 10 wins on hard and clay court in the same season at Masters 1000 events, after Lleyton Hewitt (2000) and Nick Kyrgios (2015).
The Sydneysider’s other top 10 scalp occurred in April against Andrey Rublev in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Masters.
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