ROLAND GARROS

May 30, 2025

Alexei Popyrin

Press Conference

A. POPYRIN/N. Borges

6-4, 7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: I'm sure you're happy you wrapped it up in three sets. Speak about the match today.

ALEXEI POPYRIN: It was a really good match from my point. Happy, like you said, that I wrapped it up in three sets. It's really hot out there. Really difficult conditions.

Yeah, I think I played first set and a half really, really solid, how I've been playing all week. He had a little bit of a mental slip-up there at the end of the second set. But managed to dig deep in the tiebreak. The third set, I think it was more a mental battle than a physical battle on my side trying to hold serve, and then trying to get opportunities on his return, which I had towards the end.

But yeah, still managed to kind of keep my head and still play well in the tiebreak.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Do you think back to back those are the two best matches you played this season?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: I would say throughout the clay court season, it's been pretty consistent. There's been a few dips here and there, and a few losses that I wasn't quite happy with. But throughout the clay court season, it's been really consistent on my end.

But yeah, I think from the start of Geneva it's been the sole focus of how we want to play and how we want to perform. Yeah, coming into French Open, it's actually been really good. The first three matches have been consistent, not dropping a set, you know, trying to finish the matches as quickly as possible.

Q. Through to the last 16 now for the second time at a major. Can you take anything from New York last year? Are the circumstances on Arthur Ashe, does that make any difference? Can you take anything from the match and your experience there?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: I think, I know how I'm going to be feeling in the fourth round of a slam. Going into the fourth round against 'Foe in the US Open, I had no idea how I was going to feel, especially coming off a match like the third round against Novak.

You get the emotional highs, then you top that off with the physical stress. You're never going to be 100% going into a fourth round of a slam. That's something I can kind of learn from, which we have.

But then again, the first three rounds have been nowhere near as tough as that Novak match in the third round there. It's actually a positive on my side. I'm feeling quite good, considering the circumstances of it being a fourth round of a slam.

Yeah, hopefully I can keep feeling that way.

Q. I liked your quote the other day, how you said you don't struggle getting up to play the big names on the big arenas, but you struggle more with the consistency against lower-ranked players. Is that something you can work on off the court, mindset, concentration, or is it things that just come with matches?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: I think it's more of a mindset, not concentration kind of mindset, but mindset of being consistent. That's what I've been talking about all week, I think, the consistency part, the consistency aspect of me playing matches and the way I play these matches is where you can play your best tennis against a top-10 player, but when you play a player ranked 40, 50, 60, you're the favorite, you have to bring that consistent level, the level you play against a top player. That's what I struggled with.

I think kind of changing the mindset into being a little more consistent, not going for winners at the first opportunity, trying to build a point up, I think that helps. That's kind of the way we've been focusing the first, well, since the start of the clay. It's been working well.

Q. Going back to today's match, with that second set tiebreak. You served for the set I think it was a couple of times. I think you faced a set point as well. What was the element of relief when that set was in your hands?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: Yeah, it was very important. I think going two sets to love up or one set all is a completely different ballgame. To be able to get through that tiebreak, I had two opportunities to serve for the set, wasn't able to do it, considering how well I served the whole match. That was quite a surprise. Those were the only two times I was broken in the whole match. It was a weird kind of four or five games.

Then, yeah, going through that tiebreak, it was really tight. I knew how important it was. But at the same time I just tried to keep focus on my serve. Then when the opportunity arose on my return, then I would try to capitalize on it. That's kind of what happened.

Q. Now as you look ahead with Tommy Paul, he's had two back-to-back five-setters. Do you think that will play a part in coming up against him?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: Honestly, I think Tommy is one of the fittest guys on tour. The work he puts in the gym, the work he puts in off the court, I think he's only going to come out on Sunday and play normal.

For me, it's very important not to think about the fact that he's played two five-setters. It's to keep focusing on myself, to keep focusing on the way I've been playing for the last two weeks and trying to bring that level again, trying to bring that consistent level.

For me, that's the most important. Not to focus on how he feels or what he's done in previous rounds. I know how fit he is. I think the whole tour knows how fit he is. He's not going to come out there and show you that he's tired, that's for sure.

Q. When you are serving as well as you were for the first set and a half, do you ever catch yourself thinking, God, I'm serving well here? How do you stop that?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: I would like to say I'm used to serving that well (smiling).

To be fair, I think when you do serve well, you can get carried away and kind of try and go for bigger serves and try to get as many aces as possible. It was very important for me to kind of keep the variety of my first serve, trying to keep him just so that he doesn't get used to my serve.

That's what happened towards the end of the second set, is he started to get used to my serve. He started returning from his backhand wing very, very well. Didn't make many return errors from that wing. I was kind of, like, trying to still serve through that backhand wing. It was a little bit of a fault on my part. But then I kind of adjusted in the tiebreak and managed to kind of serve it out.

In the third set, the serve was probably the most important thing for me. I was feeling physically a little bit tired. So yeah, serving it out was very important for me. Yeah, I tend to think to myself that I'm capable of serving like this every day (smiling).

Q. It feels like you're playing quite tactical at the moment, changing variety where you're returning from, serving from. Is that something that's by plan or is it you making in-game adjustments?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: It's a kind of way, been like a focus of ours for the last year and a half, especially on the serve side. I've got a big serve. I like to serve big. It's really hard for me to slow it down.

I think it's really important to do it. But then muscle memory kicks in when it's a tight moment and you want to go for that big serve again. You have to fight those demons and hit a slower serve to change up the rhythm, especially in those tight moments.

That's the focus that we have had. He's been banging his head against the door trying to explain it to me. It's finally starting to soak in a little bit to my head. It's the way we want to serve from now on, change pace, not just go for the big serve all the time, then yeah, surprise him with a big serve every now and then.

Q. You talked about Tommy in terms of the fitness recovery before. First meeting between you two on clay. What else does he bring to the table?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: Look, he also is a player that serves with a lot of variety, plays with a lot of variety, likes to come in, serve and volleys. Not quite sure if he's a grinder, an aggressive player, but he's kind of a good mold between the two. He's able to do both really, really well. That's why he's ranked where he's ranked and that's why he's playing at the level he's playing.

It's definitely going to be a tough match. I think we all know that. Yeah, I'm just looking forward to the challenge. Hopefully I can bring the level that I've been bringing the last two weeks.

Q. At the start of the tournament, could you have imagined you'd be the last Aussie man standing?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: That's a difficult question, I think. We all expected Demon to be in the fourth round. I think he's probably the most consistent player on tour.

Yeah, I don't think I could have thought that. But that's the case now. I'm only focusing on myself for now. I want to keep going as far as I can. That's all I'm thinking about now.

Q. When you go into an event like one of the majors, what do you say to yourself? What do you think to yourself that you set a target, I'm can go at least this far, a cliché of one match at a time, but what do you feel realistically when you come into a major?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: It's to play the best possible way that I can play. If I play that way, then who knows what I'm able to do, you know? It is a cliché answer. It is one match at a time all the time. It's not thinking ahead.

At the same time, it's the development over the practices that we've been having and trying to bring that level that we have in practice into the match.

That's the most important thing for me. That's the way kind of I prepare myself mentally and we prepare ourselves mentally as a team going into matches, going into first round, second round, third round, is to try to play the way we've been practicing, do what we've been working on throughout the whole clay court season.

If I'm able to do, then I think the results show that I'm able to go deep in tournaments.