Alexei Popyrin beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets to win his maiden Masters 1000 title in Montreal.
It’s difficult to imagine how this week might’ve gone better for Australia’s new unlikely hero.
Alexei Popyrin stared defeat right in the face in his fourth round match against Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.
At 6-5 in the second set, Popyrin survived three match points to level things up, before going on to win the tie-break and the deciding set.
His resilience is what’s truly been remarkable this week at the Montreal Open, consistently fighting back from breaks and sets down to win a title he was never meant to.
Having beaten five top 20 players consecutively to clinch the title, you can hardly say he didn’t earn it however, with a bulldozing finale against Andrey Rublev handing him the trophy.
Alexei Popyrin makes Australian tennis history after winning the Montreal Open
Upon the 6-2, 6-4 victory, Popyrin became the first Australian man to win a Masters 1000 event in 21 years.
Lleyton Hewitt’s Indian Wells victory in 2003 was the last time an Australian male player won a tournament of this prestige.
Popyrin revealed after his match to the ATP that Hewitt has been of immense help to him, recently advising and supporting him during his tike at the Paris Olympics.
“Lleyton was actually with me at the Olympics last week and he helped me so much in the Olympics and has helped me so much throughout my career. He gave me some good advice after my match against Zverev at the Olympics,” said Popyrin, who lost to the German in Paris.
“He said, ‘You took one of the best players in the world, one of the more informed players in the world, to kind of play some unbelievable tennis to beat you’. I was a break up in that match, so serving for the [first] set and kind of choked it.
“He kind of flipped the switch on it and kind of told me a positive overlook on that match and then gave me the confidence coming into this week.”
With both Hewitt’s advice, and Masters 1000 glory clearly having rubbed off on Popyrin, it is a real win for Australian tennis.
What does Alexei Popyrin’s Montreal victory do for Australian tennis?
While Popyrin’s win was record-breaking for Australia, it was nearly a feat completed exactly 12 months before by compatriot and contemporary Alex de Minaur.
Last year’s final saw De Minaur lose to Jannik Sinner in straight sets, but was a run that laid the groundwork for what has been a formidable 2024 season for the 25-year-old.
Having been down on their luck since the retirements of Ashleigh Barty and Hewitt, Australia have long-craved a new star to get behind.
Nick Kyrgios has always split opinion despite his Australian Open doubles win with compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis, De Minaur has been the player the country has broadly got behind.
Now with Popyrin’s win having boosted him up into a career-high position of 23, as the countdown for Melbourne begins, Australia may have seen their chances for a homegrown winner doubled.
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