Alexei Popyrin’s campaign at the Cincinnati Open ended sooner than expected. The Australian lost to the French player Gaen Monfils in the first round of the tournament itself, hence, earning a comparison to Pablo Carreno Busta by the fans.
After winning the Montreal Open title earlier this month, hopes were quite high for the Australian player. But the latter’s crumbling in the beginning of the tournament has left the fans wondering if his win in Canada was a mere fluke and he doesn’t have it in himself to extend his success.
With this loss, Popyrin lost his chance to compete against the Spanish young star Carlos Alcaraz and also disappointed those who considered him one of the favorites to win the tournament.
Monf Magic @Gael_Monfils defeats newly crowned Montreal champion Popyrin 7-5 6-3! #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/AJgqWk6NyQ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 14, 2024
However, one fan also compared the Australian with the Spanish player Pablo Carreno Busta, who faced a similar fate after winning the Montreal Open title in 2022.
2022: Pablo Carreño champion Masters 1000 Montreal. Next tournament loses in the 1st round Masters 1000 Cincinnati.
2024: Alexei Popyrin champion Masters 1000 Montreal. Next tournament loses in the 1st round Masters 1000 Cincinnati.https://t.co/myj6ngGhw3
— r (@predictorRM) August 14, 2024
Ever since his win in the ATP 1000 tournament in Canada, the Spaniard could not manage to rise to power and is currently ranked 513th in the world.
Are Popyrin and Busta Similar?
Busta lost his prime and didn’t win a single ATP title after his Canada victory. This made people believe that it was just a fluke.
An elbow injury added to Carreno’s difficulties as he was out of action for almost a year and a half due to his fitness issues. Though he made his comeback to the court at Roland Garros this year, he has not been able to achieve much success, facing defeat in the early stages of tournaments – sometimes even in the first round itself.
In Popyrin’s case, he is fit and has shown his talent on more than one occasion in 2024. So the loss in Cincinnati could just be one bad day in the office for the Australian, which any player could suffer on a given day.
Notably, not many players have successfully done well in Montreal and Cincinnati back-to-back in tennis history, perhaps due to being exhausted from a gruelling schedule and competitive matches.
While many fans can believe that Popyrin too might suffer from the same fate as Busta, he has a chance to make amends at the upcoming US Open tournament. He could use this time out to regroup, strategise, rest up and become 100 percent fit for the last Grand Slam of the year.
Should he do well at Flushing Meadows, that would mean that perhaps Popyrin would not go down the Busta way.
