Rising Australian star Alexei Popyrin acknowledged that winning a maiden ATP title was a special feeling that he might never again get to experience on the court. The 21-year-old had a big week in Singapore as on Sunday he recovered from a set down in the final to beat Alexander Bublik in the final to win the inaugural Singapore edition.
“I don’t think it’s a feeling I will ever feel again, to be honest. It was an unbelievable feeling, to win my first ATP title. Maybe I’ll get the feeling if I win my first Grand Slam – hopefully that will happen – but this feeling is unbelievable,” Popyrin told Tennis Australia.
“It’s a little bit of relief but overjoy, and a whole lot of emotions mixed together making one unbelievable feeling”.
Popyrin rises to a career-high ranking
Following his win in Singapore, Popyrin climbed up to his new career-high ranking of No.
82 in the world. “I’ve always had the belief that I can be up there, I can be competing with the big guys – top 20, top 10, that I can compete with them. I’ve always had that belief and I think without that belief, I wouldn’t be where I am right now, winning an ATP tournament,” said Popyrin.
Winning a first ATP title was a big step forward for Popyrin, who now targets much bigger success. “It’s a good feeling but I’m striving for much bigger. I don’t want to really look at the rankings,” said Popyrin.
“I wasn’t looking at the rankings last year when I was having a pretty bad year and I’m not looking at the rankings this year. “We’ve got our goals with my team – small steps ranking wise … I go through things just tournament by tournament. I focus on my game, I focus on my craft and the ranking will come”.
