Alexei Popyrin has battled to his biggest triumph of a deflating season, prevailing in a post-midnight dogfight at the Italian Open to set up a date with the world No.1 Jannik Sinner in his home tournament.
The Australian No.2 Popyrin, who's been sliding inexorably down the world rankings after roaring into the top-20 in 2024, enjoyed what was comfortably his best win of 2026 at 1.05 in the morning on Sunday at Rome's Foro Italico, outlasting rising Czech star Jakub Mensik 6-3 2-6 6-4.
The last Australian left in either the men's or women's singles, Popyrin fought tigerishly to get across the line and set up a third-round clash with the seemingly invincible Sinner, who had earlier on Saturday made an imperious start to his bid to win a sixth Masters 1000 title in a row.
