MONTREAL – Australian Alexei Popyrin, ranked 62nd in the world, defeated fifth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 at the National Bank Open on Monday night to win the most important singles title of his career.
Popyrin had two lower-level ATP Tour titles on his resume, in a week in which he faced five top-20 players in a row – and beat them all.
The second round saw 11th seed Ben Shelton face off, followed by 7th seed Grigor Dimitrov in a contest in which he fended off three match points. The quarterfinals saw 4th seed Hubert Hurkacz, who was up a set and a break in the second set before Popyrin came back to win the third set 7-5.
Then, late on Sunday evening, the American Sebastian Korda, who won the tournament in Washington, DC last week and had won nine games in a row, was up in the semifinals.
And finally Rublev, who was aiming for his third ATP Masters 1000 title, his first on hard court, but had no answer against a player with whom he often trains in their shared hometown of Monte Carlo.
“I played tennis at a really, really high level and believed I could play it my whole life. But to do that in five matches in a row against – I mean, six matches in a row against really high-class opponents is something completely different,” Popyrin said.
When it was over, Popyrin put his hands over his face and let his tears flow freely.
Popyrin won the first seven points of the match and from there it was just too steep for Rublev, who moved up the rankings from 8th to 6th after defeating world number one Jannik Sinner, among others, this week.
Popyrin will rise from 62nd to 23rd place in the rankings.
“I wanted to make a statement in the first game and I think I did that. I think that unsettled him a little bit, which was part of the game plan. From then on I just carried on,” Popyrin said.
Like Rublev, whose emotions on the court often hampered his career progress, Popyrin was known more for his temperament on the court than for his play.
On Monday evening he was cool, calm and relaxed.
Rublev was not quite so calm. But he is satisfied with his progress on this front.
“Even today, because if we go back just a month – or even compare my game against (Popyrin) in Monte Carlo (in April) when I lost, I behaved 10 times (worse) – and it was the first round,” he said.
“Here it was a final. A lot more pressure. Yes, I still showed some emotions today, but compared to the matches where I lost in the same way, I think I did a lot better. That’s why I had a small chance in the second set, but I guess it just wasn’t my time.”
