Alexei Popyrin falls short in bid for back-to-back Canadian Open titles
It took 70 minutes for the defending champ to take the opening set over the No.1 seed, which he did winning a tiebreak 10-8.
But stung into action, the German world No.3 raced out to a 3-0 lead in the second set and Popyrin never recovered, eventually going down 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 in Toronto.
It ended the Australia's run of nine consecutive wins in Toronto, having stormed to the title in 2024, and Popyrin remains winless in four matches against Zverev.
Popyrin's run has, however, pushed him inside the top 20 on the ATP live rankings ahead of the US Open.
For Zverev, it was his 40th win of the year.i
'After losing the first set, I had to tell myself we were both playing well,' the holder of seven Masters trophies said.
'I had one or two mistakes at the end of the first, but it was a high-level match.
'I felt that if I kept playing well, I would get my chances -- and I did. I can't complain about the second and third sets.' Popyrin and Zverev duelled throughout the evenly matched 71-minute opening set as it went into a tiebreaker.
Popyrin had already taken out grand slam winner Daniil Medvedev in the third round and his exit leaves Alex de Minaur as the remaining hope in the event with the world no.7 set to take on Ben Shelton in his own quarter-final showdown.
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Before that, Hewitt and Philippoussis were the last to achieve the feat on June 28, 2004, so it is rare in this country, even if it will be a short stay for Popyrin. 'It won't be for long ... it's going to be in and out for me,' Popyrin said. '[But] overall, my level is there. I haven't felt like this all year, which is nice. I feel like I'm slowly starting to build something.' The Canadian Open was held earlier this year as part of changes to the American hardcourt calendar, with the tennis rankings operating on a revolving 12-month basis, so Popyrin's slide is still to come. He needs to perform strongly at the Cincinnati Masters if he is to be seeded at a fourth grand slam this year. Popyrin's points from Cincinnati last year will also come off on August 18, but he lost in the first round in 2024, so it is only 10 more points for a total of 1100. Loading For context, his points on Monday will be 2250, so they could be slashed almost in half by the following week. Popyrin has a first-round bye in Cincinnati but risks slumping into the 40s if he loses in the second round – but it would have been worse if not for his Toronto heroics after he entered with a 12-16 record in 2025. To stay within the top-32 seeding range for the US Open, he must reach the Cincinnati semi-finals at minimum, where Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are the top seeds. Popyrin did de Minaur a favour by beating Rune, who is duelling with the latter for a top-eight seeding in New York, which guarantees players will not face a higher-ranked opponent until at least the quarter-finals. As opposed to Popyrin, de Minaur has no points to defend before the US Open because a hip injury sidelined him from the two Masters 1000 tournaments last year, so he is only adding to his tally. Russia's Karen Khachanov must win the Toronto title to push de Minaur to No.9 in next week's rankings, but the Australian is more likely to remain at No.8. Djokovic, who is ranked sixth ahead of Shelton and de Minaur, did not play in Toronto and is skipping Cincinnati, too. De Minaur will equal the 24-time major champion's ranking points if he reaches the Cincinnati semi-finals, and surpass him if he makes the final or claims the title. 'The goal is to come out and compete and do well in the Masters,' de Minaur told this masthead. 'There is a big opportunity for me because I'm defending no points, so if I can get some good results, I can be in a very good spot.' The Toronto quarter-final runs from Popyrin and de Minaur coincided with Tomic, at age 32, advancing to the Lexington Challenger final on Monday. The former world No.17 will be at his highest ranking in five years next week – somewhere in the 180s – which will earn him direct ranking into qualifying at every grand slam, including the 2026 Australian Open. Meanwhile, Lorenzo Musetti, Rune, Khachanov, Marin Cilic, Matteo Berrettini, Kei Nishikori, Alexander Bublik and Bu Yunchaokete have committed to play at the Kooyong Classic from January 13-15.
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Before that, Hewitt and Philippoussis were the last to achieve the feat on June 28, 2004, so it is rare in this country, even if it will be a short stay for Popyrin. 'It won't be for long ... it's going to be in and out for me,' Popyrin said. '[But] overall, my level is there. I haven't felt like this all year, which is nice. I feel like I'm slowly starting to build something.' The Canadian Open was held earlier this year as part of changes to the American hardcourt calendar, with the tennis rankings operating on a revolving 12-month basis, so Popyrin's slide is still to come. He needs to perform strongly at the Cincinnati Masters if he is to be seeded at a fourth grand slam this year. Popyrin's points from Cincinnati last year will also come off on August 18, but he lost in the first round in 2024, so it is only 10 more points for a total of 1100. Loading For context, his points on Monday will be 2250, so they could be slashed almost in half by the following week. Popyrin has a first-round bye in Cincinnati but risks slumping into the 40s if he loses in the second round – but it would have been worse if not for his Toronto heroics after he entered with a 12-16 record in 2025. To stay within the top-32 seeding range for the US Open, he must reach the Cincinnati semi-finals at minimum, where Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are the top seeds. Popyrin did de Minaur a favour by beating Rune, who is duelling with the latter for a top-eight seeding in New York, which guarantees players will not face a higher-ranked opponent until at least the quarter-finals. As opposed to Popyrin, de Minaur has no points to defend before the US Open because a hip injury sidelined him from the two Masters 1000 tournaments last year, so he is only adding to his tally. Russia's Karen Khachanov must win the Toronto title to push de Minaur to No.9 in next week's rankings, but the Australian is more likely to remain at No.8. Djokovic, who is ranked sixth ahead of Shelton and de Minaur, did not play in Toronto and is skipping Cincinnati, too. De Minaur will equal the 24-time major champion's ranking points if he reaches the Cincinnati semi-finals, and surpass him if he makes the final or claims the title. 'The goal is to come out and compete and do well in the Masters,' de Minaur told this masthead. 'There is a big opportunity for me because I'm defending no points, so if I can get some good results, I can be in a very good spot.' The Toronto quarter-final runs from Popyrin and de Minaur coincided with Tomic, at age 32, advancing to the Lexington Challenger final on Monday. The former world No.17 will be at his highest ranking in five years next week – somewhere in the 180s – which will earn him direct ranking into qualifying at every grand slam, including the 2026 Australian Open. Meanwhile, Lorenzo Musetti, Rune, Khachanov, Marin Cilic, Matteo Berrettini, Kei Nishikori, Alexander Bublik and Bu Yunchaokete have committed to play at the Kooyong Classic from January 13-15.
