Alexei Popyrin admits it's back to the drawing board in the search for big-time tennis consistency after his encouraging French Open week ended in anti-climax with a chastening lesson at the hands of American iron man Tommy Paul.
The last Australian man standing at Roland Garros wasn't about to hide his disappointment after the crushing 6-3 6-3 6-3 hammering by No.12 seed Paul but Popyrin could at least be enthused about a run which took him to the last-16 again, his best Paris outing yet.
But after admitting he'd ended his tournament feeling "mentally fried" while Paul, even after two back-to-back draining five-setters, still looked as fresh as a daisy, Australia's No.2 reckoned he would be back feverishly working with his team to discover the match-by-match consistency that still eludes him.
