Alexei Popyrin crashes out of Wimbledon after losing to world No 461

The Guardian

18 hours ago

Alexei Popyrin has crashed out of Wimbledon to a British player ranked No 461 in the world while only a wonderful trademark comeback from Jordan Thompson could rescue a poor start for the Australian contingent on the sun-drenched grass-court grand slam.
Big-serving Popyrin, the 20th seed and the biggest Australian men's hope beyond Alex de Minaur, tumbled out to French-born English wildcard Arthur Fery 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in one of the biggest upsets of the opening Monday.
As the sun burned down on one of the hottest days in the Championships' annals, most of the Australian contingent of 17, the country's biggest battalion of players in 30 years, were swiftly put in the shade with Kim Birrell, Chris O'Connell and Olivia Gadecki all losing.
But their defeats paled in comparison to Popyrin's as he went down to wildcard Fery, a 22-year-old Wimbledon local who took full advantage of his home advantage at the All England Club where his businessman father is a member.
Popyrin has been bemoaning his lack of consistency and, after an impressive showing at the French Open where he was Australia's last man standing, reaching the fourth round, he was quickly dumped down to earth again in front of a roaring crowd on the cramped court 15.
It came as a huge let-down after Thompson had brushed aside his injury worries to deliver the first green-and-gold victory.
The 31-year-old summoned up his familiar spirit on his favourite lawns to scrap his way back, eventually prevailing 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 against Czech Vit Kopriva for his third comeback from two sets down at Wimbledon in successive tournaments.
In all, it was the Sydneysider's fourth five-set win at his favourite grass-court slam but it could have come at the cost of another injury setback.
Thompson, who feared he might not even get to the start line because of his latest back problem in a year of injury woe, still wasn't sure if he would now be fit to play his next match against Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who pulled off another contender for shock of the day by knocking out Daniil Medvedev.
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The rest, though, was a tale of woe, from the moment Kim Birrell became the first player knocked out in a completed match at this year's championships – 6-0, 6-4 to last year's semi-finalist and 22nd seed, Donna Vekic – to Ajla Tomljanovic's late-evening loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
There were a couple of gallant cracks at causing an upset, with Sydneysider James Duckworth taking Canadian 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime to five sets before losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4.
Then 21-year-old Perth qualifier Talia Gibson also made it tough for four-time grand slam champ Naomi Osaka in the biggest match of her career, twice missing out when serving to take the contest into a third set, before the Japanese star made her pay with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) triumph.
Chris O'Connell found the ever tricky French veteran Adrian Mannarino too much to handle, going down 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 in two-and-a-quarter one-sided hours, while Gadecki battled gallantly, saving five match points only to eventually succumb 6-2, 7-6 (10-8), to Argentine Solana Sierra.