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Alexei Popyrin with his parents Elena and Alex
and brother Anthony. Photo credit ©Gulf News, Dubai

From Ballboy to Tennis champ

DUBAI, June 12, 2017

Former Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships ballboy 17-year-old Alexei Popyrin has won the French Open Junior title at Roland Garros in Paris.

The 17 year-old Australian tennis player of Russian decent, Popyrin was a ballboy during the 2009 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and was a regular player at junior tennis 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.

Currently ranked at 1047, Alexei Popyrin has a career high ATP singles ranking of 1039 achieved on 22 May and doubles ranking of 1556 achieved on September 19, 2016. He reached the semifinals of the 2017 Australian Open in the junior doubles tournament which was then followed by winning the 2017 French Open junior singles title this month.




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