Australian Open 2023: Taylor Fritz vs Alexei Popyrin – Preview, Head-to-Head, and Prediction

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2 years ago

Taylor Fritz (Laver Cup - Twitter)

8th seed Taylor Fritz locks horns with Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open on Thursday.

Taylor Fritz in action in Eastbourne (Image Credit: ATP Tour – Twitter)

Taylor Fritz

The American tennis pro defeated the likes of Alexander Zverev and Jiri Lehecka in the 2023 United Cup. His first loss of the year came against Cameron Norrie. In the semis, Fritz defeated Hubert Hurkacz and in the finals, he got the better of Matteo Berrettini to help the USA win the 18-team tournament.

In the first round of the Australian Open, Fritz picked up a relatively comfortable win in four sets against Nikoloz Basilashvili. The match ended 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in favor of Fritz. The 25-year-old is one of the favorites to win the tournament and he will be confident of his chances with the kind of form he has been in the last few months.

Alexei Popyrin

The Aussie star played the two events in Adelaide before the Australian Open. In the Adelaide International 1, he made it to the quarterfinals with wins against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Marcos Giron. In the Adelaide International 2, he lost in the first round to compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Alexei Popyrin (Image Credit: ATP Tour – Twitter)

Popyrin opened his Australian Open campaign with a five-set thriller against Tseng Chun-hsin. The big-serving Popyrin hit 19 aces during the match.