Alexei Popyrin had a very successful North American hard court swing last year at the Canadian Open and the US Open.
Popyrin was a surprise winner of the Canadian Open, the Masters 1000 tournament which is by far the biggest title of his career.
However, the Australian was still not done there and went on to impress in New York, highlighted by Popyrin’s victory over Novak Djokovic.
Now one year later, Popyrin has revealed which of those victories he got the most joy from.
Alexei Popyrin explains why he got more joy from winning the Canadian Open than beating Novak Djokovic
It has not been such a successful 2025 season for the Canadian Open champion, with Popyrin losing his last three matches heading into his title defence.
The last time that Popyrin won back-to-back matches was at Roland Garros, and he has admitted that he is hoping to find more consistency.
Popyrin then went on to explain that was the reason why he got more joy from his Canadian Open victory than his victory over Djokovic.
“Against Novak, I think everybody always knew that I’m capable of producing a one-match stunner,” Popyrin told the ATPTour.com. “But I want to get back to winning the matches that I should be winning, stringing together wins and then giving a good account in the matches that I’m the underdog.
“Winning the Masters was easily a bigger buzz than the US Open win over Novak because I put together six matches consecutively against Top 20 opponents and beat them all.
“As you look for that consistency, you don’t want to take away anything from your big explosive game; it’s more about staying in rallies longer and waiting for the right opportunity rather than going for an unbelievable shot.”
Alexei Popyrin admits feeling pressure defending the Canadian Open title
Popyrin won the title in Montreal last year, but as the ATP alternate locations with the WTA every year, the 2025 men’s tournament is held in Toronto.
When speaking about his title defence, Popyrin confessed that he was feeling the pressure of having to defend 1000 ranking points in one tournament, but was trying to look on the positive side.
“I’d be lying if I said there’s no pressure [defending the Canada title],” added the world number 26. “Every year you have to go in defending points.
“This year is just a big chunk of points that go out because of an amazing result that happened the year before… Going into Toronto, I’m trying to not put too much pressure on myself and I know that once those points are off, I’ll have like a little bit of a weight lifted off my shoulders.”
| Canadian Open 2025 | Alexei Popyrin’s Potential draw |
| First Round | Received a bye as the 18th seed |
| Second Round | Nicolas Arsenault (WC) |
| Third Round | Daniil Medvedev (10)/Dalibor Svrcina |
| Fourth Round | Holger Rune (5)/Alexandre Muller (29)/Miomir Kecmanovic/Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard |
| Quarterfinal | Alexander Zverev (1)/Francisco Cerundolo (14)/Tallon Griekspoor (24)/Matteo Arnaldi (32) |
| Semifinal | Lorenzo Musetti (3)/Casper Ruud (8)/Karen Khachanov (11)/Tomas Machac (16) |
| Final | Taylor Fritz (2)/Ben Shelton (4)/Andrey Rublev (6)/Frances Tiafoe (7) |
Popyrin will begin his Canadian Open title defence in the second round against wildcard Nicolas Arsenault.
If he is able to come through that match then Popyrin could face 10th seed Daniil Medvedev, who he has a losing head-to-head against.
However, Popyrin was able to beat Medvedev at the Paris Masters just last year.
Some of the other potential threats in Popyrin’s half of the draw include Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti and Holger Rune.
Popyrin will begin his Canadian Open campaign against home favourite Arsenault on Tuesday, July 29.
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