By Brendan Bradford at Melbourne Park -
Alexei Popyrin has continued Australia's bumper second day of the 2020 Australian Open, winning through to the second round after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to retire midway through their match on Melbourne Arena.
Tsonga edged the first set, before Popyrin started playing some great tennis, with the Aussie up 6-7(5) 6-2 6-1 when Tsonga asked for medical assistance and retired.
Popyrin, ranked 96th in the world, idolised Tsonga as a kid growing up in Sydney. While happy to advance, he said it hurt to see his hero retire.
"It's a painful one, I've never felt like that after a match," Popyrin said,
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"He was my favourite player as a kid. Seeing him make the final here, I was jumping around like a crazy kid.
"Seeing him like that is painful, he's amazing. Everything about his game, his forehand, his backhand, and his attitude. I always loved the (celebration) he did after he won a match.
"It's just really painful to see him in pain."
It's the second year in succession Popyrin has faced a top-flight opponent who was forced to retire, after Dominic Thiem pulled out of their second round match in 2019.
He will face either Spain's Jaume Munar or French wildcard Hugo Gston in the second round.
The 20-year-old went on to lose to Lucas Pouille in the round of 32 last year, but says he isn't looking beyond his next match in 2020.
"I'm gonna take it one match at a time, I haven't looked that far ahead in the draw," he said.
"Hopefully I can do one better than last year."
Popyrin's win is another good result for the Aussie contingent after a lean first day of competition on Monday.
Ash Barty was Australia's only winner from day one, but John Millman, Ajla Tomljanovic, Jordan Thompson and Marc Polmans all won through to the second round on Tuesday.
Although Tsonga won the first set, it was anything but easy.
The Frenchman narrowly won the tiebreak, but let three breakpoint opportunities slide earlier in the set.
Unbowed, Popyrin started the second strongly, finding his groove with a rapid first serve that had Tsonga on the back foot.
The Aussie won an impressive 91% of points on his first serve and came to the net well.
At 3-2, Popyrin broke Tsonga to take a 4-2 lead, and didn't look back in the set.
In fact, that was the beginning of the end for the veteran Frenchman, as Popyrin converted another break to take the set 6-2 in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
The third set was even worse for Tsonga. He held serve to open the frame, but was clearly in some physical discomfort as he gave away two more breaks to lose the set 6-1.
A dejected Tsonga slumped to his chair at the end of the set, and had a long conversation with a match official.
It was several minutes before a doctor could arrive on court, and after a brief discussion, he was forced to retire with a back injury.