Alexei Popyrin

Alexei Popyrin is one of the jewels in the crown of the Mouratoglou academy, under whose auspices his career ‘exploded’ at international level in 2017 with an extremely modern game based on a big serve, a punchy forehand and swift movement for his tall stature. Winner (among other things) of the French Open as a junior that year, he then quickly found his place in the pros, reaching the top 100 in 2019, before going on to win three titles on the main ATP circuit, including the Masters 1000 in Montreal in 2024, the best of his career.

Junior career: five ITF titles including Roland Garros

Alexei Popyrin arrived at the Mouratoglou Academy in 2017 and saw his junior career ‘explode’ that year with a title at Roland Garros, beating Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the semi-finals and Nicola Kuhn in the final. In doing so, he became the fifth Australian player in history to win the French junior title, following in the footsteps of Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson, John Newcombe and Phil Dent, who was the last to do so in 1968.

In all, Alexei has won five international titles on the ITF U18 circuit (also Bochum in 2015, Santa Croce in 2016, Casablanca and Milan 2017). He ended his junior career with his Paris triumph and a run of 17 consecutive wins, when he was world No. 2.
 

ATP career: a meteoric rise

His transition to the professional circuit has been as rapid as it has been fruitful. After winning his first Future in 2017 in Mragawo (Poland), aged 17, and his first Challenger in 2018 in Jinan (China), he broke through the wall of the top 100 in 2019, just a few months after revealing himself to the general public by reaching the 3rd round of the Australian Open that year, beaten in five hard-fought sets by future semi-finalist Lucas Pouille.

Since then, he has won three titles on the main ATP circuit, including the Toronto 2024 Masters 1000, a year in which he also reached the last 16 at the US Open and was ranked 23rd in the world. A few weeks later, he eliminated Novak Djokovic in the 3rd round of the US Open.

It was in Singapore in February 2021 (on hard court) that Popyrin won the first title of his career on the main circuit, beating Marin Cilic in the semi-finals and Alexander Bublik in the final. He was 21 years old at the time.

The Australian went on to win the Umag tournament in 2023 (on clay), at the expense of Stan Wawrinka, before claiming his biggest title at the Montreal Masters 1000 in August 2024. In his first appearance in the final draw of the Canadian tournament, he eliminated five players from the top 20, including three from the top 10: Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz and Andrey Rublev in the final! In doing so, he became the fourth Australian player to win a Masters 1000 after Pat Rafter, Mark Philipoussis and Lleyton Hewitt. And the fourth lowest-ranked player (62nd) to triumph in a Masters 1000.

Popyrin’s exponential rise in 2024 didn’t stop there: in the wake of his Montreal triumph, he reached the last 16 of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the US Open. In total, the Australian has 11 victories over top 10 players, including six in the 2024 season alone, at the end of which he also beat Daniil Medvedev at the Rolex Paris Masters.
 

Alexei Popyrin is a globetrotter: born in Sydney to Russian parents, he moved to Dubai at the age of 7, where he stayed for two years and even worked as a ball boy at the ATP 500 tournament. He and his family then moved to Spain, to Alicante, where ‘Pop’ – whose younger brother Anthony plays at the American University – was neighbours with his compatriot Alex de Minaur, and where he developed a taste for clay that is not so common for an Australian player. He then joined the Mouratoglou Academy, where he continues to return frequently for training. Off the court, Alexei is a huge sports fan, particularly of basketball (he supports the Portland Trail Blazers), football (Everton) and golf, as well as being a great admirer of Usain Bolt.