Men’s tennis is on the rise Down Under.
In a showing of strength not seen since 1997, Australia has four men through to the US Open third round: Alex de Minaur, Christopher O'Connell, Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson.
In 1997, it was one of Australian’s giants Patrick Rafter, who went on to win the crown that year, leading the way for Mark Philippoussis, Mark Woodforde and Scott Draper. But the path forward for this quartet starts Friday night at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center grounds on the game’s biggest stage in Arthur Ashe Stadium when Popyrin takes on defending champion and the 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
In an odd twist of fate, this will be the third time this season that Popyrin has had to play the future Hall of Famer in the Grand Slams, losing at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon to the Serb. However, the No. 28 seed Popyrin isn’t fazed by the challenge and is carrying a ton of confidence and momentum from his breakthrough tour title run at Montreal earlier this month.
“I just want to keep playing the way I have been the last two, three weeks,” said Popyrin, 25. “I feel really good out there.”
Djokovic knows that he will need to be at the top of his game against Popyrin.
“He doesn’t make as many errors as he used to. He’s pumped. He’s confident and he shows that,” said Djokovic, the Paris Olympic gold medalist. “He’s playing some great tennis, so no reason for him not to believe that he can put up a great performance and he’s going to go for the win.”
Grit and determination have always been hallmarks of Australian players and de Minaur and O’Connell have carried on that tradition this summer.
Only six weeks ago, de Minaur was forced to withdraw ahead of his Wimbledon quarterfinal match against Djokovic after tearing his hip cartilage in the round before. He played just one doubles match with Popyrin at the Paris Olympics before making his singles return here at Flushing Meadows.
That is now all behind the 25-year-old as the No. 10 seed gets ready to face Great Britain’s Daniel Evans on Saturday for a spot in the round of 16 for the second consecutive year.
“I’ve done my best to get back on the court and just feel very happy that I’m back on the court and able to compete,” said de Minaur, who has lost just one set this week.
“It feels like I haven’t played tennis in a while and I haven’t played matches in a while. The body never forgets. It’s a shame, but every day I’m feeling a little bit better,” said de Minaur, whose career best at Flushing Meadows was the quarterfinals in 2020.
The 30-year-old O’Connell was sidelined earlier this season with a shoulder injury that forced him out of the French Open and the Olympics. He too has come back strongly this week but will have an equally uphill task before him when he plays world No. 1 and the reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in a match also scheduled for Saturday.
“It’s really exciting how my year has panned out the past few months,” said O’Connell, No. 87 in the world.
O’Connell has split two previous meetings with Sinner.
“He’s one of the biggest names in tennis so it going to be awesome,” he said.
In a brilliant all around performance Thompson reached the third round by throttling the power of No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in three sets.
Thompson next faces 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi, also scheduled for Saturday, who played a starring role in Italy’s Davis Cup final victory against Australia late last season.
“It’s an opportunity for both of us, there’s no denying that,” Thompson said. “He’s been playing good tennis, he made semis at a Masters a few weeks ago (in Montreal), so it will another tough battle.”
Thompson, 30, knows he has the chance to advance to the fourth round at a Grand Slam for a second time–and for the first time since his career-best run at the US Open in 2020. “It’s great today, but it doesn’t guarantee anything moving forward,” Thompson said. “I’ve just to put the head down and hopefully go back to work and do a good job [in the next round].
