Fallen star Alexei Popyrin has dug deep for a morale-boosting victory to join Alex de Minaur in the second round of the Montreal Masters.
Two years after upstaging the great Novak Djokovic in a seismic US Open triumph, Popyrin has slumped to No.139 in the world as he battles a crisis of confidence.
But after toiling through qualifying just to make the main draw, Popyrin toiled for another two hours 12 minutes to see off Argentine Roman Andres Burruchaga 4-6 7-5 6-3 to notch his first ATP-level win since May.