ATP Canadian Open Semifinals Round-Up: Rublev and Popyrin Secure victories, ready for title clash

Alexei Popyrin and Andrey Rublev emerge victorious from the semifinals and will face off in the final of the Canadian Open. Both played their quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Sunday, setting up an unexpected final showdown.

The evening session began with a comfortable victory for Rublev (No. 86) over Matteo Arnaldi (No. 46) by 6-4, 6-2, advancing to his second Masters 1000 final of the season after winning the title at the Madrid Open. His unexpected opponent will be Popyrin (No. 62), who surprised Sebastian Korda (No. 18).

The Russian didn’t have to work too hard to defeat Arnaldi in straight sets. Rublev had earlier defeated Jannik Sinner in three sets in the morning and had only a few hours of rest before returning to the Center Court in Montreal.

The first set saw both players holding serve well, with a single break point in the third game being enough for Rublev to take the lead. He later closed out the set 6-4 after 37 minutes without facing any dangerous moments.

Despite an evenly matched start to the second set, Rublev quickly raised his level and secured two consecutive breaks, winning a total of five straight games to close the match 6-4, 6-2 without any difficulties, finishing in just one hour and 18 minutes—something crucial after two busy days for the players due to rain delays.

Popyrin’s performance at the Canadian Open has been a complete surprise, reaching the final of a Masters 1000 for the first time in his career. The Australian has been nearly untouchable with his serve throughout the week, defeating opponents like Ben Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov, and Hubert Hurkacz.

This time, his victim was Sebastian Korda, who seemed to be worn out from the week and his earlier match against Alexander Zverev. In the first set, Korda took the lead with a break in the third game, but the advantage didn’t last long as Popyrin broke back to level at 3-3. A second break for Korda gave him the chance to serve out the set, but Popyrin broke back again and took the set to a tiebreak, where he dominated Korda 7-6(7-0).

After losing the set in such a surprising fashion, Korda had a shaky start to the second set, allowing Popyrin to break early and take a 2-0 lead. Korda fought hard but struggled against Popyrin’s strong serve, with the Australian winning 83% of his service points throughout the match.

The victory went to Popyrin 7-6(0), 6-3, reaching the third final of his career and his first at a Masters 1000. The Australian also secured his best ranking so far, rising to World No. 30 after the tournament, which will give him a seeded position at the US Open. If he wins the title, he could climb as high as No. 23.