ROLAND GARROS

May 26, 2025

Alexei Popyrin

Press Conference

A. POPYRIN/Y. Nishioka

7-5, 6-4, 2-1 (ret.)

THE MODERATOR: Alexei, well done. Obviously not the way you wanted to end the match, but can you speak a bit about the first two sets, how happy you are that you're in the second round for the first time since 2019.

ALEXEI POPYRIN: Yeah, it was a tough match. He's a player that doesn't really give you much rhythm. I found it particularly hard to return his serve, as funny as that may sound.

No, he played really well the first two sets. I had to stay solid. I served really well in the first two sets. Unfortunately he tweaked his back towards the end of the match. Told me he tweaked it four points before he retired.

Yeah, I wish him a speedy recovery, and hopefully he can get back into form and play some great tennis, like he can.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How much of that is a relief? Six matches on the bounce that you lost.

ALEXEI POPYRIN: Yeah, actually I haven't thought about it. Every match that I've played here has been actually really tough. I think I remember all the losses that I had. They've not been the easiest of draws. They've been tough first-round losses, ones that I've taken to heart.

Yeah, like you said, it is a nice feeling to get to the second round. At the start of the week I was saying where I thought my game was at. I thought it was at a really good level. Especially the first two sets were a good level back on my part. Mentally a little bit was frustrated not being able to consolidate my break points or do more damage on his serve.

Other than that, I think my tennis was pretty solid. Yeah, I'm really positive with where my game's at.

Q. Take you back to the day in the Bullring. You had that win. It's no longer there. Where you've gone to and what it's like coming back here...

ALEXEI POPYRIN: Yeah, it's nice.

Q. The memories of playing in that court.

ALEXEI POPYRIN: Yeah, 2017 was a good year for me. Won French Open juniors, got to No. 2 in the world in juniors. Straight after French, I won my first pro title. That was all on clay. I think that was a great kind of showing as to how my game can kind of play on this surface. Yeah, it was great memories.

Unfortunately that court's not there anymore. I would have loved to play a professional match on it, but unfortunately it's not there anymore. It was a great court. I really loved it, even though I really stepped on it once. Yeah, I have good memories of that court. 2017 was a good year.

Q. We see a lot of Aussies struggle here. Do you find it is more significant when you can get a win here? Like a drought here.

ALEXEI POPYRIN: Last year I lost to Kok in the first round. He got me in the first round.

I can only speak on my behalf that I'm happy that I finally got a win here. Yeah, I think it's not a secret that probably clay isn't the best surface for Aussies. Slowly we're starting to see more and more results and more wins in the first round, which is great, both on the men's and women's side. Maya Joint just won a title on clay last week, which is massive for her.

Yeah, look, I think the clay court has not been our favorite, but hopefully... Demon is playing unbelievable on the clay this year. Hopefully I can make some results also.

Q. You've been seeded now at a couple of majors. Does that carry much weight for you being seeded, or rankings can be so fleeting? Is there a different mindset? Is there a different approach being seeded compared to not?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: I think the only difference is that you don't play a higher rank than you before the third round. That's the biggest difference. Back when I wasn't seeded, I was playing a seed in the second round. Sometimes it could be a really, really high seed. Whereas now, you're kind of going in as a favorite for the first two matches. I think that's a different kind of mentality.

It's kind of like back when I wasn't seeded, I was kind of the one being... I wanted to beat the seed really bad. I was trying to bring my A game. Now you're the seed and your opponent is doing that to you. It's a little bit of a different kind of mindset in terms of that.

At the end of the day you're focusing on your own game, not kind of thinking about the number in front of your name.

Q. I think they're in the first set, Cazaux or Tabilo. But next for you. What can you tell us about those two? You might have another lefty potentially. What sort of challenges do they pose for you?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: Look, I think lefties, they pose a challenge to everybody, to every variety. I think they're not the easiest players to play. They have their advantages on the ad side. Then again, we have our advantages also against them. It's kind of getting used to playing against lefties. I played my last two matches against lefties, Noz and Nishioka.

If he goes through, I know it's not going to go easy. I know it's not going to be easy if Cazaux goes through either. Against the French crowd, it's going to be rowdy, because he plays really well in France. He's a really good player, has a lot of potential.

Yeah, neither of those matchups are going to be easy for me. I'm going to have to bring my A game, probably a little bit better than I brought today. Yeah, we'll see.

Q. You were saying the other day about how it's been quite a traumatic period between the end of the Aussie Open and now. Gone through a hell of a lot. Do you feel you've got to the other side?

ALEXEI POPYRIN: Yeah.

Q. You have a new team.

ALEXEI POPYRIN: Yeah, definitely. Like I kept saying that I feel the most positive I felt leading up to a tournament in a long time. That's very important for me. I think mentally it's been challenging, like you said.

But yeah, since the start of the clay court, I feel like my game is starting to come back to me, the results are starting to show a little bit more, there's more consistency and match wins every single week. That's really important.

For me, it's just trying to on bad weeks where I don't really feel my game completely to kind of string two, three, four matches. Then when I do feel my game, hopefully I can string five, six matches.

It's just having that consistency of having your lower level getting a little bit higher and your higher level staying where it is. For me that is the most important thing and that is all I've been working on. It feels like it's going on the right track now.