Popyrin shocks Rublev to capture his first Masters crown at Canadian Open

Alexei Popyrin (No. 30) frustrated Andrey Rublev's (No. 6) ambitions and is the new Canadian Open champion. The 25-year-old Australian had an unexpected run and ended up taking the title with a great performance in the final, winning 6-2, 6-3, to secure his third professional title.

Without a doubt, this is a week that will forever be etched in Popyrin's memory, as he won his first Masters 1000. It is the most important tournament of his career, adding to his previous two ATP 250 titles at the Singapore Open 2021 and Croatia Open 2023.

Popyrin's campaign in Montreal has perhaps been the biggest surprise of any Masters 1000 so far in 2024. The Australian entered the tournament as World No. 62 and defeated several favorites on his way to the final, including Ben Shelton (11th seed), Grigor Dimitrov (7th seed), and Hubert Hurkacz (4th seed). Popyrin and Rublev had a head-to-head record of 1-1, with their last meeting at the Monte-Carlo Masters this year, where Popyrin defeated the defending champion in the Round of 32.

Rublev appeared a bit unfocused as he didn’t even win a point in his first service game, allowing Popyrin to quickly take the lead. Taking advantage of Rublev's constant unforced errors, Popyrin secured a second break in the 5th game, which was enough to close out the set with his serve at 6-2.

Rublev managed only 38% of his first serves and won just 45% of those points. In contrast, the Australian was nearly flawless in his service games, with a 72% first serve success rate, winning 86% of those points. Popyrin also tallied 18 winners and just 4 unforced errors, compared to Rublev's 7 winners and 9 unforced errors.

In the second set, things again started poorly for Rublev as Popyrin broke serve early. The Australian advanced to a 3-1 lead before conceding his serve for the first time in the 6th game. However, Rublev was unable to hold serve in the following game, allowing Popyrin to regain the advantage.

With no further surprises, Popyrin continued to dominate with aggressive play, this time hitting 13 winners compared to Rublev's 9, while both players had 6 unforced errors. After an hour and 31 minutes of play, Popyrin emerged victorious in a closely contested final game, sealing the win at 6-2, 6-4 to claim the most important title of his career so far.

The Australian will reach his highest-ever ranking as World No. 23. His next challenge is at the Cincinnati Open, where he will face Gael Monfils (No. 46) in the first round. If he wins, he will face Carlos Alcaraz in the second round. As for Rublev, he has a bye in the first round as the 6th seed and will face the winner of the match between Zhizhen Zhang (No. 44) and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (No. 48).