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Alexei Popyrin defied Chris O'Connell's best in a three-hour Brisbane International thriller after Arina Rodionova had a winning return to the top level.
Alexei Popyrin has outlasted Chris O'Connell in a typically tense all-Australian tussle to begin the tennis summer in Brisbane.
The world No.40 won 6-4 6-7 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4), taking more than three hours in a Brisbane International first-round slugfest on Sunday.
Popyrin's big serve was never broken and he controlled things early, but world No.68 O'Connell dug in his heels until a trio of costly misses in the third-set tiebreak.
At 3-2 a ripping O'Connell forehand went just wide, before he netted a simple volley, then missed a regulation backhand to open the door for Popyrin.
It belied an otherwise stoic effort from the Sydney man, who was washing boats before an 82-win season on the lower tiers in 2019 catapulted him from outside the top 1000 to within sight of the top 100.
He and Popyrin are now two of 10 Australian men inside the world's top 116.
"That's a battle for the last match of the year, but what a battle it was," Popyrin said.
"If I didn't keep my focus I would have lost this match, easy.
"If he continues playing like that he'll do big things this summer, for sure."
Popyrin has enjoyed a surging 2023 of his own and has his sights on deeper grand slam runs in 2024, having made five third rounds at majors but never gone beyond.
First he will face the winner of exciting American Ben Shelton and Russia's Roman Safiullin, who will grace Pat Rafter Arena in Monday's day session.
Earlier, Australian Arina Rodionova relished her WTA return, notching an upset win over Martina Trevisan.
The 33-year-old overcame early breaks of serve in both sets to win 6-3 6-2 in the tournament's first match at Pat Rafter Arena against the Italian, who hit a career high ranking of No.18 in May.
Rodionova, the world No.114, is Australia's highest-ranked female and needed a wildcard to feature in her first top-level event in nearly two years.
She has worked tirelessly to come back, overcoming a wrist injury in 2022 and dominating on the lower-tier ITF level this year to surge from No.302 in the world.
Rodionova has won a stunning seven ITF singles titles and 78 matches this year and will now face former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin of the US in the second round.
The Brisbane International has not been held as a men's and women's event since 2019.
Bumper New Year's Eve crowds queued before gates opened on Sunday morning to celebrate its return.
"I had so much fun today - I don't remember the last time I enjoyed being on the court so much," Rodionova said.
In other women's action, American Sloane Stephens beat Czech player Katerina Siniakova 7-5 6-3 while Camila Giorgi, Marta Kostyuk and Anna Kalinskaya all won.
On the men's side, Austria's former US Open champion Dominic Thiem scraped through qualifying, beating Italian world No.135 Giulio Zeppieri 3-6 6-4 6-4.
Thiem had managed a great escape against Australian James McCabe on Saturday, saving three match points after a brown snake slithered courtside and delayed play.
His prize is a first-round date, likely on Tuesday, with the returning Rafael Nadal, who has beaten him in two French Open finals.
Australian duo James Duckworth and Li Tu also qualified for the main draw, while Nadal and Andy Murray both lost their respective doubles matches on Sunday night.
