#NextGenATP Popryrin Leads Aussie Assault In Wimbledon Qualifying

#NextGenATP Aussie Alexei Popyrin made a good start to his pursuit of a Wimbledon main draw berth on Monday, defeating Argentine Federico Coria 6-2, 7-5 to reach the second round of qualifying.

Popyrin, currently in 11th place in the ATP Race To Milan, is trying to make a move to better his chances of qualifying for November’s Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. Earlier this year, the 19-year-old advanced to the third round of the Australian Open, where he lost to eventual semi-finalist Lucas Pouille in five sets.

Popyrin wasn’t the only Aussie to make it through; all eight Aussie men in action Monday moved into the second round. Alex Bolt, who also reached the third round in Melbourne, outlasted #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner 2-6, 7-5, 12-10 in two hours and 36 minutes. That was the longest third set, by games, of the day.

Bolt qualified for Wimbledon for the first time last year, losing to Kyle Edmund in the main draw. He will next play Austrian Dennis Novak.

The other Aussies who battled on in the first round were James Duckworth, Andrew Harris, Jason Kubler, Marc Polmans, Akira Santillan and John-Patrick Smith.

German Dustin Brown, who advanced to the MercedesCup quarter-finals with a win against reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev, beat China’s Zhe Li 7-6(2), 6-3 in one hour and 21 minutes. Brown has competed in the Wimbledon main draw seven times, and he defeated Rafael Nadal at the grass-court Grand Slam in 2015.