Popyrin: Hamilton, fried chicken & Djokovic revenge

Alexei Popyrin was watching Broadway show Hamilton in Manhattan last week when he stepped away from his seat during intermission.

“I went to the toilet, but there was this huge line, and this one guy came up to me and said, ‘Hey, well done in Montreal’,” Popyrin, who will face Novak Djokovic Friday in the third round of the US Open, told ATPTour.com. “[It was] in the middle of a huge crowd, so it was quite cool.”

The fan was congratulating the Australian on his recent breakthrough at the Omnium Banque Nationale présenté par Rogers, where he won his first ATP Masters 1000 title. Previously, the 25-year-old had made just one quarter-final at the level. He has lately been stopped by fans a couple of times per day on the street.

“I think not as much as obviously [Carlos] Alcaraz and all the top guys, but I get stopped once or twice a day, three times a day sometimes. But every day I get recognised at least once or twice when I'm walking on the streets,” Popyrin said. “Off the court, I'm a relaxed guy. I like to just go about my business and not speak out or speak out of turn or anything like that. I think anybody likes attention when they get it.

“I have enjoyed the extra attention after Montreal. But honestly, it's not what I play for. It's not what I like. It's not my focus at the end of the day. For me, it's just to play out there, be the centre of attention on the court and then off the court I am who I am.”

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Off the court, Popyrin is a simple man. He enjoys spending time with his loved ones and playing golf. In New York, the Australian likes the restaurant scene.

“I like to go to different restaurants. The other night, actually, we went to this fried chicken [restaurant]. It was funny. Coqodaq it’s called. I think Reilly [Opelka] is an investor in that,” Popyrin said. “We went there. One of [coach Xavier Malisse’s] friends actually provides the caviar for the restaurant. It was unbelievable food. You get a bucket, and then you have the plain chicken, and then you have the soy glaze or the spicy chicken. But the guy who we were with ordered all three, so we had two buckets of huge chicken.”

Not all trips to New York have been quite as fun for the Australian. The first time he was in the state came when he was eight years old while connecting through an airport.

“It was a one-day layover, and my younger sister, she was about two years old, she was really sick,” Popyrin said. “She kind of fainted at the airport and we had to go to the hospital here in New York, so that was my first experience here in New York. I was eight, nine. We were on the way to play [the] Nike Junior Tour in Punta Cana.”

The next time Popyrin returned to New York was in 2016 for the boys’ singles event. The Aussie lost in the second round to eventual champion Felix Auger-Aliassime in three sets.

“My first time we were in here in the main grass area, there were hamburgers for lunch, and that's what we were having for lunch every single day, me, my brother and my mom,” Popyrin said. “And then sometimes we’d go and have the fried chicken in the public, where the public people eat their food, and we would just sit with the public and eat our food, and then I'd go play the match. Nobody knew who I was at the time, so we've made the most of it.”

Popyrin added that New York “is probably one of the most hectic cities in the world”. Between the noise and the traffic, he said two weeks or so is the maximum he can spend here. But the 28th seed has been taking advantage of the city’s entertainment, like when he went to see Hamilton, which he greatly enjoyed.

“[It was] unbelievable. I think theater is slowly becoming one of my favourite things to go and watch. In London, we went to Book of Mormon, which was so funny. It was unbelievable. I enjoyed it a lot. It's not for the faint-hearted, but it's funny,” Popyrin said. “Then here we went to Hamilton, and they're all so talented. The people who sing and act there are unbelievable.

“I do enjoy my history. I do enjoy watching TV shows that are back in time. I actually learned during Hamilton, as much as I think you can learn. But I actually learned a little bit about American history and how it was formed, the backstory of Alexander Hamilton.”

The backstory of Popyrin’s relationship with his next opponent, Djokovic, began when the Australian was 12. Training under Riccardo Piatti at the time, he took a photo with the Serbian in Monte-Carlo.

More than a decade later, they have met three times in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with Djokovic taking all three. Two of their clashes came this year, with the veteran triumphing in four sets at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

“I think he's just super solid. He doesn't give you anything at all. I don't think anybody enjoys playing him, to be honest. It's not new news, I think. But I give myself a shot,” Popyrin said.

“Now that I'm here, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to try and exact some revenge from the last two times I've played him. If I win, I'll be like, ‘F yeah’. But if I lose, I'll be probably [thinking], ‘Oh, not again’.”

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