How Djokovic played a role in the success of Alexei Popyrin; secret to the Aussies triumph in Montreal

There have been plenty of surprises this season, but we might have got the biggest surprise of the season in the hard court season where we saw Australian talent Alexei Popyrin win the Canadian open and beating some of the top ranked players in the ATP setup. This was the first ever ATP 1000 title that the Aussie has won and was perhaps the best week he has ever had in his career.

We knew that Alexei Popyrin was a talented player who had beaten some big players in the past, but this might have been the tournament where it was his time to shine. Beating the likes of Dimitrov, Rublev and Hurkacz who are currently one of the high seeded and favorites to win the tournament is a big achievement for any unseeded player. This has now made Popyrin one of the dark horses to watch out for in this tournament. However, the story we all want to know is who is behind the rise of this talented Aussie who is making strides in the tennis World right now.

Djokovic gives the boost

It might sound surprising but it was the legendary Novak Djokovic who helped Popyrin reach big heights. The Australian faced the former World number one and 24 time Grand Slam winner twice this season and two of the matches were quite the spectacle. Popyrin gave a great fight in the Australian Open where he even won a set over the Serbian. Though it was Djokovic who ended up victorious it was still a great battle to witness between a legend and a young talent. That was not all as Popyrin gave a great fight in Wimbledon as well by winning the opening set, but in the end did have to face defeat. regardless of that it was still a big achievement to put one of the best players in the world on the backfoot and this would have surely given Popyrin some confidence.

Djokernole gave some positive feedback to Alexei after the Wimbledon match as well saying " It was another tough match. I didn’t expect anything less than what we experienced on the court today from Alexei." Djokovic also said some great things about his game as well. Looking at these matches it is safe to say that Popyrin has taken this confidence forward and has now won the biggest title of his career in Montreal and it is all thanks to the Serbian powerhouse.