Nuno provided music but in the end the Pop service was left

After the story, a “different” break. As with many players who are outside the top 20, Nuno Borges had a doubles match after his triumph against the eighth best in the world, Casper Ruud. Also there, playing alongside the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, the Portuguese player added another victory against Zizou Bergs and Jesper De Jong, “avenging” the 2025 defeats against the Belgian in Marseille and Miami. Now, riding this positive wave of national tennis that also caught Henrique Rocha (who also qualified for the third round after beating Jakub Mensik), the player from Maia had the opportunity to reach the fourth round of a Major for the third time in his career, after the Australian and US Opens in 2024.

Facing Tommy Paul or Karen Khachanov in the next round did not promise to be easy, but this was a golden opportunity for Nuno Borges to take a step forward and aim for even more in his Grand Slam career. Question? From this perspective, Alexei Popyrin, number 25 in the ATP world rankings , was at the same level after the disappointment in Melbourne at the beginning of the year when he fell in the opening round. This would be one of the Portuguese's greatest opponents: despite now being in a lower position than the Australian, he was entering a duel with no theoretical favorites and where every detail would make the difference.

“Even if your opponent [Casper Ruud] is injured, that gives you confidence. And I would say that, going into the third round against Popyrin, it is a pretty good draw. I think Nuno Borges is a better clay court player than Popyrin. Popyrin clearly has a powerful game, with a very strong serve and forehand. It is difficult to predict, but I would say that Borges… I am usually very impressed with Nuno Borges. He plays with a lot of intent, has a great forehand and is a very accurate hitter. He plays at a pretty high tempo”, said Mats Wilander, former Roland Garros winner (in 1982, 1985 and 1988) who is now a commentator for Eurosport, after the Maia player’s victory over the Norwegian player.

“I think Popyrin is a very capable player. If he plays well, he can beat literally anyone. I think he is very well adapted to both clay and hard courts, especially because his serve is extremely effective on any surface. It may be a more accessible match than against Casper [Ruud], but it will still be a huge challenge. Above all, I will try to enjoy the moment. I am very excited about the next challenge”, Nuno Borges told Lusa news agency before the fourth round duel, which began this Friday in the men’s draw with a victory for the Italian Lorenzo Musetti against the Argentine Mariano Navone, despite an initial scare in the first set that was later corrected. And while it is true that he enjoyed it, with the full stands on court 14 supporting him, Popyrin ended up being stronger.

The match began with an atypical service game from Nuno Borges that would define the entire set : the Portuguese player won the first two points, then avoided a break point but lost the start of the duel, then went on to search for a counter break that became an impossible mission given the quality of Alexei Popyrin's first serve, who never lost more than one point in his matches and closed it out naturally with 6-4. The importance of not letting the service game slip away was clear, with the following set starting with the players aware of the importance of holding their matches, as was happening despite a 0-30 in the third game and the advantages in the fifth game that Borges faced.

It wasn't the first time, it wasn't the second time, it was the third time: despite having started losing, the Australian only needed one break point to take the lead in the second set with a 4-3 confirmed straight away. However, there was more to tell: after having cancelled a break point that would have made it 6-3, the Portuguese broke Popyrin's serve for the first time for 5-5 and left the stands on court 14 even more excited, almost as if it were a possible turning point in the match. From “Let's go Nuno, let's go” we moved on to “Nuno, Nuno, Nuno”, then we went into silence after another break by the Australian, from silence we went back to “Let's go Nuno, let's go” after another break of service by the Portuguese which took the decision to a tie break with Popyrin losing confidence in his serve when the first ball didn't go in but without completely switching off, taking advantage of some errors in the final part to make it 13-11.

The 2-0 deficit and even the way he conceded the second set could have had an impact on Borges' performance, who had shown in the opening round against Kyrian Jacquet that a setback did not necessarily have to be a sentence. That was what was seen at the start of the third set, with the Portuguese player at 30-30 in the opening game with Popyrin serving and failing to convert a break point in the following two games. Once again, everything was slipping down to details, with the Australian, also known on the circuit as Pop, having four failed chances to break Nuno Borges' serve in the eighth game, benefiting from two match points being cancelled in a row and then going on to another tie break , which ended with the Australian winning 7-5 after a three-hour battle in which the Portuguese player deserved more.