Popyrin qualifies in Stockholm
Alexei Popyrin won his second straight match to qualify for the ATP tournament in Stockholm and will next face John Millman in a quarter of the draw stacked with Aussies.
Stockholm, Sweden, 16 October 2018 | tennis.com.au
Alexei Popyrin on Monday won his final-round qualifying match at the ATP tournament in Stockholm to reach the main draw.
The 19-year-old Australian beat Germany’s Matthias Bachinger 6-3 4-6 6-2, a day after eliminating Michael Mmoh in his opening match.
The result sends Popyrin through to the main draw of the 250-level event, where he will play countryman John Millman.
And his qualification means there are now four Aussies in that quarter of the draw.
Alex De Minaur and Matt Ebden are also in there, and will meet in the second round if they win their first matches on Tuesday.
Popyrin and Millman will battle for the right to play No.3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last 16.
At the Kremlin Cup, Ajla Tomljanovic went down 6-4 7-5 to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Monday.
The Russian was stronger on serve throughout the 92-minute encounter and set up a second-round meeting with No.1 seed Simona Halep.
Fellow Aussies Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova will play their first-round matches in Moscow on Tuesday.