The 2024 Canadian ATP Masters champion, Alexei Popyrin, has expressed his excitement about winning the title, attributing it to the fruits of his labour.
Popyrin stunned World No. 6 Andrey Rublev by winning 6-2, 6-4 to clinch the Canadian ATP Masters title on Monday night at the Omnium Banque Nationale présenté par Rogers.
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Elated, the Australian, as reported by ATP Tour, attributed the victory to hard work.
“It means the world to me, for all the hard work I’ve put in over the years, and all the sacrifices I have made,” said Popyrin.
“Not just me, but my family, my girlfriend, my team, everybody around me. They have sacrificed their whole lives for me, and for me to win this for them is just amazing.”
During the match, Popyrin saved all four break points he faced in the first set. In the second set, he showed composure after dropping serve to make it 3-all, immediately breaking Rublev by dancing around a second serve and hitting two huge forehands.
By improving to 2-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Rublev, Popyrin maintained his perfect record in ATP Tour finals, adding to the trophies he won in Singapore in 2021 and Umag in 2023.
He is the first player to record five Top 20 wins at an event since Novak Djokovic at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals and the first to do so since Holger Rune’s run to the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters title.
He is the second-lowest-ranked champion in tournament history, behind only Sweden’s Mikael Pernfors, who was No. 95 when he won in 1993.
By Dotun Omisakin
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