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Exciting Australian tennis prospect Alexei Popyrin is leaving no stone unturned in his bid to make a successful transition to the professional ranks.
Ambitious young gun Alexei Popyrin has borrowed a page from the Novak Djokovic playbook in his quest for an edge ahead of his much-anticipated US Open debut.
One of the hottest talents in tennis, Popyrin has secured his slot in the main draw of a grand slam for the first time as a direct entrant after a breakout season highlighted by a dazzling run to the Australian Open third round and a bold Wimbledon qualifying campaign.
"It's a good feeling. I thought I deserved the wildcards that I received but definitely getting directly into the main draw was a big achievement for me," the Australian said.
"I'm definitely proud and hopefully I can continue doing it."
Up against Argentine Federico Delbonis on Tuesday, the 2017 French Open junior champion is leaving no stone unturned in his bid to make a successful transition to the professional ranks.
The 20-year-old has already become one of the youngest members of the world's top 100 this season but, not satisfied, Popyrin has improved his diet, is working harder than ever and now turned to Djokovic's leading strategist in search of an edge over his rivals.
Djokovic has been tapping into Craig O'Shannessy's handy statistical analysis for the past two years with great success and Popyrin will trial the Australian's work in New York.
"Just insight on other players. It's just a different way of trying to improve," Popyrin told AAP when asked what he hoped to gain from O'Shannessy, who also helped Alison Riske bring down Ashleigh Barty at Wimbledon.
"Any way to try to improve is good. I'm always trying to find different ways to try and win a match.
"If that'll help, it'll help. And if it won't, it won't and we're just going to try it out this week.
"I haven't lost in the first round of a grand slam this year so hopefully I can continue doing that.
"But I'm just going to take it one match at a time. Delbonis is a good player, a solid top-100 player. A lefty. It's going to be tricky for me but I'm looking forward to it."
