Alexei Popyrin completed one of the most improbable journeys at the 2024 Masters 1000 tournament, the Canadian Open.
Entering the Canadian Open in Montreal this year as the world No. 62 and fresh from the clay-court Olympics in Paris, the 25-year-old claimed three wins over top-10 opponents and ended 2024 Washington Open champion Sebastian Koda’s eight-match winning streak en route to the final. He also defeated 14th seed Ben Shelton in the second round.
“This means everything to me, for all the hard work I put in over the years, all the sacrifices I made,” said 2024 Canadian Open champion Popyrin, who became the first Masters 1000 champion since Lleyton Hewitt won the title at Indian Wells in 2003.
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“Not only for me, but for my family, my girlfriend, my team, everyone around me. They sacrificed their whole lives for me and for me to win this for them is just amazing.”
In the Montreal final, the Australian produced a devastating serve, attacking Andrey Rublev’s second serve with aggression and an impressive forehand to claim a convincing 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Rising to 23rd in the world after another win over Rublev at the Monte Carlo Open earlier this season, the Australian saved all four break points he faced in the first set of the Canadian Open final. He showed composure in the second set after dropping serve to level at 3-3, before winning the biggest title of his Masters 1000 career.
By improving to 2-1 in his head-to-head against the fifth seed Rublev, the Australian maintained his perfect record in ATP finals after winning the 2021 Singapore and 2023 Umag finals.
The Australian defeated World No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. He then defeated World No. 6 Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals before defeating Sebastian Korda. He became the highest-ranked champion in the tournament’s history since Mikael Pernfors, who was ranked 95th in the world when he won it in 1993.
Alexei Popyrin became the first player to record five wins over top-20 opponents since Novak Djokovic at the 2022 ATP Finals.
