Alexei Popyrin's classy moment after Aussie tennis player suffers brutal fate at US Open

Aussie tennis star Alexei Popyrin has showed his class having offered home favourite Francis Tiafoe some kind words at the net after going down in a frustrating US Open defeat. Popyrin would have been left deflated with his shot making on the big points against the American showstopper having let a number of crucial points go begging in his four-set defeat on Arthur Ashe stadium.

Popyrin's serve was pivotal in his breakthrough Cincinnati Open title ahead of the US Open. And the 26-year-old put on a masterclass against Novak Djokovic in the third round to rock the tournament.. Unfortunately, with the crowd barracking for the American, Popyrin's serve let him down on a number of occasions - having recorded nine double faults throughout the contest - as he went down 6-4, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 in sweltering conditions.

The Aussie was not able to produce his best tennis against Tiafoe, but the duo pushed each other all the way in a fascinating encounter in front of a boisterous crowd. Tiafoe continually hyped the crowd up with his showmanship and quality groundstrokes, while Popyrin did his best to silence his counterpart.

Popyrin let three set points go begging in the second set and lost momentum in the contest. He also came close to pushing the match to five sets, but missed a forehand to give Tiafoe another chance to serve for the match. While some of the cheering against Popyrin was deemed 'disrespectful' in New York, the Aussie showed his class at the end of the match.

And Popyrin embraced the American at the net and reportedly told Tiafoe to: 'Go win this thing'. The duo shared a moment after an intense battle in the humid conditions, before the Aussie waved to the New York crowd in his goodbye.

Popyrin has won over many fans in the last fortnight with his high-quality tennis in Cincinatti and now at Flushing Meadows. And the Aussie won over even more supporters after showing sportsmanship in defeat at the grand slam.

After the match, Tiafoe praised the atmosphere on court having lauded the previous tennis icons who have carved so many fond memories on Arthur Ashe Stadium. “I always dreamt about playing on this court… as a kid I used to hit against the wall and wanted to compete on this court," Tiafoe said after his victory.

"Seeing the Williams sisters win titles here. Seeing Roger win here a million times. I was like ‘I just want to go out on this court’. It’s so iconic. It’s named after Arthur Ashe. I wanted to be a part of that. It brings out the best in me.”

Francis Tiafoe sets up Grigor Dimitrov clash

Tiafoe will now face Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-final. Dimitrov managed to withstand Andrey Rublev's comeback attempt to return to the US Open quarter-finals in five sets. Rublev managed to rally from two-sets down, despite a moment where he smashed his racquet. The Russian charged back in the third and fourth sets, but Dimitrov managed to fight back in the fifth to reach his eighth grand slam quarter-final.

RELATED:

• Tennis villain issues apology after 'terrible' act towards ball girl

• Daria Saville's shock $147k admission after brutal scenes at US Open

"It brings back such good memories from 2019, so I thought, 'Why not another five-setter?'" Dimitrov said. American 12th seed Taylor Fritz had earlier made the final eight by beating Norwegian star Casper Ruud.