3 minute read

Alexei Popyrin has earned another big win in his breakthrough year by beating Daniil Medvedev in the Paris Masters.

Australia's soaring tennis star Alexei Popyrin has earned another significant triumph in his breakthrough year, knocking world No.5 Daniil Medvedev out of the Paris Masters.

The lanky Sydneysider, who became the first Aussie to win a Masters 1000 event in more than two decades when he beat Andrey Rublev in the final of the Canadian Open in August, earned another big-name Russian scalp with his hard-fought 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-4) victory over Medvedev in the second round on Wednesday.

World No.24 Popyrin held his nerve best in the tiebreak to take his third career win over a top-five ranked opponent.

The 25-year-old had lost his three previous matches against the former US Open champ but, aided by frustrated Medvedev's serving woes as he delivered 14 double faults, this time prevailed in a see-sawing contest after almost two-and-a-half absorbing hours.

It was a match riddled with errors - 86 of them between the pair - but it was Popyrin who came up trumps in the breaker after he had earlier seen a 4-1 lead disappear in the final set.

In a tight final breaker, the key moment came when Medvedev double-faulted one last time to give Popyrin a match point, which the Aussie then converted with a fine volley at the net, his 31st winner of the match.