The Australian Alexei Popyrin this Monday conquered the first Masters 1,000 of his career by sweeping the final of Montreal in Russian Andrey Rublev.
Popyrin, world number 30, capped a spectacular week on Canadian soil by defeating Rublev, number 6, by 6-2 and 6-4 in one hour and 29 minutes.
The 25-year-old Australian played his first Masters 1,000 final on Monday and ended up claiming victory in a tournament marked by rain and crucial absences such as Serbian Novak Djokovic (no. 2) or Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (no.3).
This is the third tournament that Popyrin has won after Singapore in 2021 and Umag in 2023 and it is undoubtedly the most important achievement of his career.
To reach the Canadian final he defeated high-level opponents such as the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (n.7) or the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (n.9).
In the final in Montreal he led to despair in a Rublev who came as a favorite for the decisive match after leaving great rivals like the Italian Jannik Sinner (n.1) on the road.
The Russian is on the verge of scoring his third Masters 1,000 after Monte Carlo in 2023 and Madrid in 2024.
Both Popyrin and Rublev will take part this week in the Cincinnati Masters 1,000, the last major ATP event before the United States Open which starts in 15 days in New York.
Popyrin will make his debut in the first round in Cincinnati against Frenchman Gael Monfils (n.46) and, if he wins that fight, he will face Alcaraz in the next fight.
Source: La Verdad
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