Popyrin bounced
ALEXEI Popyrin’s big serve was nullified by Fabio Fognini as the Italian accounted for the Australian young gun in the opening round of the Swiss Indoors yesterday. Popyrin served seven aces but had his serve broken four times in the 6-2 6-4 defeat. The victory boosted fifth-seeded Fognini’s hopes of qualifying for a maiden appearance at the seasonending ATP Finals. “Tennis has started to change again with these young guys who are amazing on their first and second serves,” Fognini said after the win.
SCOTT McLaughlin has broken his silence to reveal how he got through the sixday hell of not knowing whether he was Bathurst king.
Speaking for the first time about the charge that threatened to rob of him of his greatest win, McLaughlin said his maiden Bathurst 1000 victory should not be tarnished by the team orders controversy. DJR/Team Penske copped the biggest fine in Bathurst history when it was found guilty of issuing a team order.
The same investigation also cleared McLaughlin of any wrongdoing in a finding that allowed him to keep his first Bathurst win
“It wasn’t the week that I thought I was going to have after I won the biggest race of my life,’’ McLaughlin said.
“It was obviously a tough week. It was an unfortunate situation and I am certainly glad we can put it behind us.
“We can now celebrate being Bathurst 1000 champions. I have been wanting to win that race forever. I think everyone knows what it means to me and it was a dream come true. It has capped off a pretty awesome year.’’
McLaughlin refused to even contemplate having his epic last lap win over Shane van Gisbergen stripped.
“It’s hard to speculate how I would have felt,’’ McLaughlin said. “I didn’t even worry about it until all the media started coming out and people started getting angry or whatever. I can’t tell you how it would have felt. I was adamant the whole week that I hadn’t done anything wrong and it would be fine.’’
McLaughlin is adamant he won the race legitimately.
“I don’t think [it has been tarnished],’’ McLaughlin said.
“For me it had nothing to do with me or Car 17. If you look at the stewards report it acknowledges that.”