AUSTRALIAN Alexei Popyrin has produced one of the best wins of his career, defeating fourth seed and US Open winner Daniil Medvedev in an incredible three-set match. Popyrin needed two and a half hours in Paris overnight to book his place in the ATP 1000 Masters Round of 16, winning 6-4 2-6 7-6.

The deciding tiebreaker went to 7-4 before the Aussie could celebrate with much relief, having battled his heart out across a momentum-swinging match. Despite the fourth seeded Russian being the strong favourite coming into the match, the 24th ranked Aussie finally snapped an 0-3 head-to-head against his opponent, albeit having not faced off since the Miami Masters in 2021.

Despite Medvedev starting the Round of 32 match well with six aces, the Russian was also inconsistent with his efficiency, producing eight double faults and serving at a 56 per cent clip. He won two thirds of his first serve points once they went in, but only 37 per cent of his second serves. By comparison, Popyrin had a far higher 78 and 50 per cent record which saw him claim two breaks of serve to one after generating eight break point chances.

As one would expect, Medvedev got back to his best in the second set, only dropping one point off his first serve and four from his service games in total – two of which were double faults – in an unflappable performance. He did not face a break point in the set, and instead broke the Aussie twice from six chances and punished Popyrin’s second serve to level the match with a 6-2 result.

The third set lived up to all expectations as both players produced some fantastic tennis. Though it looked like Medvedev’s experience would get him over the line (76 and 53 per cent first and second serve points), Popyrin hung in there, only broken once from six chances, while breaking the Russian once as well. The players won the same amount of points, but in the end, Popyrin’s ability to remain composed in the deciding tiebreak proved key in the victory.

Popyrin joined fellow Aussie and ninth seed Alex de Minaur in the Round of 16 where de Minaur has the opportunity to qualify for Turin’s ATP Finals. The ninth ranked ATP Race player defeated Serbian lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4 7-6 to set a huge clash with Brit Jack Draper. He was joined in the next round by another ATP Finals hope in Grigor Dimitrov who knocked off Tomas Etcheverry.

Third seed Alexander Zverev and 13th seed Holger Rune also advanced through to the Round of 16 with straight set wins, while it was a great day for the local hopes. Despite the in-form Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard suffering a three-set loss to equally red-hot Karen Khachanov in just under two hours, the likes of Ugo Humbert, Arthur Fils, Adrian Mannarino and Arthur Rinderknech all won through to the third round.