Paul too strong for Popyrin as Australia's last man falls at Roland-Garros
Tommy Paul did not skip the scouting report on Alexei Popyrin ahead of their round-of-16 clash at Roland-Garros.
There is a fear factor about Popyrin's serve and forehand – quite often as a one-two punch – but the game plan to beat the Australian typically revolves around peppering his weaker backhand as much as possible and exposing his movement.
The American 12th seed executed that strategy to perfection on Sunday to rout Popyrin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 inside two hours and emphatically end his 25-year-old rival's hope of making a maiden grand slam quarter-final.
It was a disappointing finish for Popyrin, who was aiming to go one match further than his fourth-round appearance at last year's US Open, where he ousted Novak Djokovic before losing to Frances Tiafoe.
For Paul, his first quarter-final on Parisian clay goes along with his 2023 semi-final and 2025 quarter-final at the Australian Open, as well as last year's Wimbledon quarter-final. He also reached the last 16 at the past two US Opens, and this latest win sees him leapfrog Alex de Minaur in the live rankings.
De Minaur – a surprise second-round loser to Alex Bublik – sits 10th in those rankings, with Ben Shelton, Andrey Rublev and Tiafoe all able to pass him, too, if they can advance deeper into the claycourt grand slam.
There were no signs of the abdominal strain that plagued Paul in the earlier rounds, or any potential lingering fatigue from his five-set victory over Karen Khachanov two days ago.
In reality, 25th-seeded Popyrin, who had lost six consecutive matches at Roland-Garros before this career-best run in the French capital, was unable to place enough pressure on the American to find out.
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