Alexei Popyrin is remaining positive after crashing back to earth and out of the US Open with a deflating fourth-round loss to American big-stage showman Frances Tiafoe.
Australia’s shooting star was unable to back up his mighty third-round win over the great Novak Djokovic, succumbing 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-3 to his friend and foe Tiafoe on Sunday night in New York.
Leaving Alex de Minaur and Jordan Thompson to fly the flag in the men’s singles, Popyrin rued an opportunity lost and conceded he “choked” serving for the second set at 5-3, 40-0.
But the 25-year-old is remaining philosophical as he departs Flushing Meadows with a career-high ranking of No.23 in the world after a golden month on the US hard courts.
Popyrin snared five top-20 scalps en route to a stunning Montreal Masters breakthough before ending Djokovic’s title defence in New York with a thunderous victory over the 24-times major winner.
He was unable to conjure the magic of 48 hours earlier as the partisan crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium, cheering seemingly every Tiafoe winner and every Popyrin error, willed the home hope to a rousing victory.
“Look, I’m telling everybody now, if you would have told me at the start of the summer I would have been 23 in the world with a Masters title and second week of a slam for the first time, I probably would have taken it considering the position I was in,” Popyrin said.
“If I hadn’t won a match in Montreal or Cincy, I probably would have dropped to outside 90 in the world.
“So considering all that, I think it was a very successful summer.
“It definitely does feel like a little opportunity lost. This match, it was changed by I think one, two, or three points.
“He won three more points than I did all match, and he won three sets. That just shows you how close it was.”
A semi-finalist in 2022 and quarter-finalist last year, Tiafoe will face Bulgarian ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the last eight this time around.
But Popyrin knows it could have been him playing for a spot in the semi-finals.
He dominated the first set but paid the price for not breaking Tiafoe in the fourth game when he had his regular hitting partner on the back foot serving at 15-40.
Once again he was largely untroubled on serve in the second and, after breaking Tiafoe for the first time in the fourth game, Popyrin had the set on his racquet at 5-3, 40-0.
“It’s a really big choke from my end,” the vanquished Sydneysider conceded.
Tiafoe, feeding off the frenzied crowd support, didn’t need a second invitation, forcing the set to a tiebreaker, taking the set and rebounding after Popyrin clawed his way back by winning the third.
While Tiafoe can savour becoming the first American since Andy Roddick in 2006-08 to make the US Open quarter-finals for three straight years, Popyrin is hoping his breakout grand slam run proves a launching pad for his own career.
He will take a short break before returning for the Asian swing and then the Davis Cup finals in November.
“We still have a lot of tennis left to play,” said the former French Open junior champion.
“The position that I’m in, I think I’ll be seeded in Australia for the first time because I don’t have many points to defend.
“It’s going to be really fun playing the Australian summer, like it always is, and now that I’m (likely to be) seeded, it looks like a good opportunity for me.”
Despite Popyrin’s exit, Australia is still guaranteed a quarter-finalist as de Minaur, the 10th seed, squares square off with Thompson in the fourth round on Monday (7am Tuesday AEST) on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
