Dubai ball boy shines in Paris
dubai — Life has come full circle for the former Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships ball boy, Alexei Popyrin after he won the French Open Junior title on Saturday at Roland Garros in Paris.
The 17-year-old Australian player of Russian decent, Popyrin was a ball boy during the 2009 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and was a regular player at junior tournaments in the UAE. In February this year, organizers of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships granted Popyrin a wild card entry to the qualifying rounds of the ATP week. Although he lost his first match against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, the chance to play in an ATP 500 event was a great opportunity for the young player.
Commenting on Popyrin’s French Open Junior win, Dubai Duty Free’s executive vice chairman and CEO, Colm McLoughlin said, “On behalf of Dubai Duty Free, I would like to congratulate Alexei Popyrin on becoming Australia’s first French Open Junior champion in 49 years. We wish him all the best for the remainder of the season and hope to see him back in Dubai next year.”
Currently ranked at 1047, Popyrin has a career high ATP singles ranking of 1039 and doubles ranking of 1556. He reached the semifinals of the 2017 Australian Open in the junior doubles tournament which was then followed by French Open junior singles title this month.