Frenchman Alexandre Müller qualified for the second round of the Australian Open after a hotly contested battle with Australian Alexei Popyrin.
The Frenchman Alexandre Müller (52nd in the world) qualified on the night of Monday to Tuesday for the second round of the Australian Open by winning a five-set showdown against the Australian Alexei Popyrin (50th).
The 28-year-old right-hander was particularly combative to snatch the victory 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (10/4).
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Müller notably came back from a break behind when he was down two sets to one and 4-2 in the fourth set.
In the deciding set, the Frenchman was broken on a shutout and led 5-3, service to follow for Popyrin. But he broke again in the next game to push the Australian to the super tie-break.
Aggressive against an opponent who was attacked physically and successively massaged his right calf and left thigh during the match, Müller clearly dominated the end of the match to emerge after almost four hours of combat.
The 52nd player in the world will be doomed to the feat if he wants to reach the third round for the first time in Melbourne, since his next opponent will be the outgoing finalist and world No.3 Alexander Zverev.
Alexandre Müller was the last Frenchman entered on Monday in Melbourne and joined in the second round his compatriots Corentin Moutet (32nd), Elsa Jacquemot (60th), Quentin Halys (83rd) and Arthur Gea (198th) before the entry into the running scheduled for Tuesday of six French people, including the veteran Gaël Monfils for his last Australian Open at 39 years old.
