Injury-hampered Popyrin crashes out of Open in first round

After entering the Australian Open with high hopes, an injury-hampered Alexei Popyrin has slumped to a first-round defeat at the hands of gritty Frenchman Corentin Moutet.

Popyrin won the first set but battled a left hip/lower back complaint and a cramping hamstring midway through the second set, leading No.25 seed to be run ragged by Moutet in a 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 loss at John Cain Arena.

It was a hammer blow for Popyrin, who was seeded for the first time and attempting to kick on from his bumper 2024, which included claiming a Masters 1000 title in Montreal and brilliantly upsetting the great Novak Djokovic to reach the fourth round at the US Open.

World No.69 Moutet, who complained on social media platform X on Saturday he had been denied the opportunity to practise on a main court four days in a row, was happy to wind up the home crowd and play the villain, including attempting an underarm serve at one point.

“Just disappointed because I missed my underarm serve,” Moutet joked, noting it was tough to face an Australian and their home crowd.

“But it looks like you (the crowd) were enjoying more when I was missing than when I was winning (points).”

Popyrin, 25, took an hour and nine minutes to claim a gritty opening set where he had to save nine break points.

But Popyrin started to look proppy in the second set and took a medical timeout when trailing 3-2 on serve, receiving treatment on his left hip/lower back area for several minutes.