Struggling Australian tennis star Alexei Popyrin continues to be dogged by horrendous form woes, slumping to crushing defeat in an off-Broadway Challenger match in Bahrain. Just days after his first-round Australian Open exit, Popyrin headed to the Challenger tournament in hope of some much-needed confidence, only to lose in straights sets to unheralded Frenchman Ugo Blanchet. Alexei Popyrin has not won a match in five months. And he was out of the Australian Open in the first round, too, losing a five-set battle to Frenchman Alexandre Muller at Melbourne Park. Playing a lot of tournaments, but losing first round in each means he’s not really playing much at all,” another added.