Support truly
independent journalism
Alexei Popyrin has become the first Australian to win an ATP Masters 1000 title in more than 20 years after beating world No 6 Andrey Rublev in the final of the Canadian Open.
The 25-year-old won 6-2 6-4 in 90 minutes, to win the third, and by far the biggest, tour title of his career and Australia’s first Masters 1000 title since Lleyton Hewitt won at Indian Wells 21 years ago.
Popyrin was ranked 62nd in the world, at the start of the tournament, and beat five top 20 opponents during his run to the final, including Hubert Hurkacz, Ben Shelton and Grigor Dimitrov.
The victory sees him jump to world No 23, just in time to secure a first-ever grand slam seeding for the US Open, which gets underway in New York in 13 days’ time.
“It means so much, it means the world,” said Popyrin. “All the hard work that I’ve put in over the last few years. All the sacrifices that I’ve made, not just me but my family, my girlfriend, my team, everybody around me.
“They’ve just like sacrificed their lives for me and for me to win this for them is just amazing.”
After celebrating the victory Popyrin, who also represented his country at the recent Paris Olympics, wrote “What just happened!” on the TV camera lens.
In the women’s event in Toronto, Jessica Pegula beat fellow American Amanda Anisimova to win the tournament for the second year in a row.
The 6-3 2-6 6-1 win means she is the first woman to secure consecutive Canadian Open titles since five-time grand slam champion Martina Hingis in 1999-2000.
“I know everyone’s talking about my record and all this stuff, but it’s nice to be able to get through the week and to back it up,” said Pegula. “So, just super excited, I mean, an honour, really.”
