Alexei, who's the newest Masters 1000 champion?! 🗣️ Australia’s Alexei Popyrin defeats Rublev to win the biggest title of his career in Montréal! #NBO24 @OBNMontreal
Popyrin shocks Rublev to capture his first Masters crown at Canadian Open
ATPTuesday, 13 August 2024 at 03:20
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 stuns the tennis world with Canadian Open victory
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.
Andrey Rublev at 2024 Madrid Open.
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).
claps 0visitors 199
Just In
Popular News
Latest Comments
- Rybakina is back!!
mandoist21-12-2024 - She sems to have a turbulent relationship with The Truth. Not even smartenough to make an excuse like "I severely twisted my ankle yesterday" -- then be seen shopping in some city next day while "recuperating"!mandoist21-12-2024
- Why do you even publish this TwatCaster's PATHETIC stunt for attention? There's plenty of reasons why imbeciles like him are 'talking' and people like Iga Swiatek are 'walking the walk'. Tennisuptodate should be above this tripe.mandoist16-12-2024
- If and when Political Correctness and gullible hearts over-rule BIOLOGY, the Human world begins its already seeming decline.mandoist15-12-2024
- The new generation has arrived and these guys need to do it with the left overs.
AceOfBase13-12-2024 - Every young, inexperiend CEO has "better" ideas (and friends to hire).mandoist12-12-2024
- What a load of nonsense. Emotional stress definitely didn’t cause her wrist or ankle injuries.Lyca10-12-2024
- Taylor Fritz 🎾 – the surprising third for many. 🎄 A great Christmas tree quiz question! 🎅✨MrAndreeva10-12-2024
- Simona Halep taking the axe out 🪓😮💨MrAndreeva08-12-2024
- ITIA is literally a Secret Organization. Way past time for a neutral entity to oversee, if not guide, these Elitists within ITIA whom enjoy their ability to keep their "investigations" in a business as usual format behind closed doors!!mandoist08-12-2024
