Popyrin power proves potent as Aussie ace prevails
Defending champ Popyrin, the 18th seed in Toronto, fought back after losing the first set to beat 10th-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev 5-7 6-4 6-4 on Thursday (local time).
It was a superb win for the Australian against the former world No.1 and 2021 US Open and Canadian Open champion in the lead-up to the year's final major on the hard courts at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Next stop ↬ sweet sixteen ✨@AlexeiPopyrin99 overcomes the early deficit to get the victory against Medvedev 5-7 6-4 6-4.@NBOtoronto | #NBO25 pic.twitter.com/3QjDhQ3tXH
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 1, 2025
Popyrin's victory set up a fourth-round clash with fifth seed Holger Rune on Saturday after the Dane advanced by beating Frenchman Alexandre Muller.
On the same day, Alex de Minaur will take on Christopher O'Connell in the third round in an all-Australian encounter.
De Minaur is looking to back up his success from Washington, where he picked up his 10th career title.
Earlier on Thursday, top-seeded German Alexander Zverev beat Italy's Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2 to reach 500 match victories.
The 28-year-old Zverev - the 2017 champion - is the first ATP Tour player born in 1990 or later to win 500 matches. He won on clay in Munich in April for his 24th tour title.
"I think I started playing better from the baseline. The longer the match went on, I started to find my rhythm a bit," Zverev said.
"It was actually my backhand that was feeling a bit off in the beginning, which is strange, doesn't happen very often.
"But after I found that shot, I was comfortable and I was happy about the level."
Ranked third in the world, Zverev ended up the top seed in Toronto with No.1 Jannik Sinner and No.2 Carlos Alcaraz skipping the hard-court event. No.5 Jack Draper and No.6 Novak Djokovic are also absent.
Milestone reached 👏@AlexZverev's journey hasn't always gone to plan, but through setback and recovery, he's carved out a career that speaks just as much to resilience as it does to success — and he now has 500 tour-level wins to show for it.Read more 👇
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 1, 2025
Zverev advanced to face No.14 seed Francisco Cerundolo, a 6-3 6-4 winner over fellow Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Earlier, Alex Michelsen upset third-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 to set up a clash with fellow American Learner Tien, a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 winner over countryman Reilly Opelka.
Eighth-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway topped Portugal's Nuno Borges 7-5 6-4 to set up a match with 11th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov, who beat American Emilio Nava in three sets.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
10 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Dan Quinn says he's glad Terry McLaurin remains a presence at Commanders camp amid contract dispute
ASHBURN, Va. — Commanders coach Dan Quinn said Saturday that wide receiver Terry McLaurin told him directly about his request to be traded amid a contract dispute but the coach has not addressed the matter with the other players as the team continues to prepare for the season. 'The players today, they're more aware of contracts and things than they used to be,' Quinn said before practice. 'And they recognize that business part happens as well. So, for the team, we're just rocking and going and throwing some great practices. For Terry and the trade requests, man, that's part of normal business that's happening around the NFL.'
Forbes
10 minutes ago
- Forbes
Katie Ledecky Maintains Her 800 Free Reign At 2025 World Aquatics Championships
Katie Ledecky's dominance remains untouched in the 800 free. Maintaining her historic streak at Worlds, Katie Ledecky won her seventh world title in the event. She surpassed Canada's Summer McIntosh, who finished third despite her strong efforts throughout the race. Ledecky continues to remain the best middle-distance freestyle swimmer after emerging on top in 8:05.62. Claiming her 18th individual gold medal overall, she is now the first swimmer with seven world titles in a single event. Despite being the most highly anticipated event of the meet, Ledecky said she "enjoyed" the race, feeling less pressure as she had been training throughout the year. "I think coming into tonight, no matter what the outcome was, I was gonna be really happy with my season. And I think I just took the pressure off and allowed me to enjoy the race and kind of appreciate that moment," a proud Ledecky said as she acknowledged her consistency through the season. Ledecky maintained a steady lead for more than half of the race, keeping McIntosh at bay till the final 100 meters. In the last laps, McIntosh, hungry for her fourth individual gold, surged for a brief 0.14 seconds. But Ledecky, in her typical manner, showcased her resilience in the distance event, took back the lead, advancing by a quarter of a second. Despite McIntosh's efforts to win, the swimmer grew tired and began to fade away. However, in an unexpected turn of events, Ledecky's toughest competition came from a different lane by Australia's Lani Pallister. Pallister, the third-fastest 800 free swimmer, surpassed McIntosh and continued to be a constant threat to Ledecky until the end of the race. Still, there was no keeping up with Ledecky, who was determined to create history in the waters of Singapore. Ledecky's time helped her set a new championship record, surpassing the previous mark of 8:07.39 she set at the 2015 World championships. "That last 100 was pretty stressful. You don't want to push it too early, so you don't fade at the end." Pallister claimed her well-deserved first win in 800 free in 8:05.98, setting a new personal best and Oceania record in the process. "She just wouldn't go away. She was right there the whole time," said Ledecky as she appreciated Pallister's effort through the race. The swimmer "had to pick up" in the last laps as she saw Pallister's "coming, the whole way." 18-year-old McIntosh rounded up to the podium in 8:07.29. After winning the 200 fly, 400 free, and 200 IM, her performance today helped take McIntosh's tally to a total of nine individual world titles. The swimmer is now looking forward to her last event of the meet, the 400 IM. "At this point, I'm literally just thinking about the 400 IM because I'm not done yet." Swim Of The Season The 800 free race was undoubtedly the most discussed race of the season. Last year, McIntosh became a potential rising star in the event after becoming the first swimmer to surpass Katie Ledecky in the free finals in 13 years. Since then, both swimmers continued to improve in 2025, preparing for their first showdown at the world stage. Veteran Ledecky bounced back months before the meet and shattered her first long-course world record in nine years in 8:04.12. This was followed by her third-fastest performance at trials in 8:05.76. On the other hand, McIntosh, despite participating in only a handful of races in the free category, continued to be a major threat to Ledecky. At the Canadian trials, McIntosh qualified for the 800 free race in 8:05.07, missing out on Ledecky's world record by only a few seconds. However, the swimmer managed to surpass Ledecky's trials time and register the new third-fastest time, behind Ledecky's current world record and the previous record set in Rio. After years of dominating the 800 free, Katie Ledecky is now facing a fair share of competition. The swimmer's top times in the event have been significantly reduced. Apart from McIntosh, Pallister's efforts in the future can make the 800 free line-up more interesting on home soil for Ledecky in 2028.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Nets' Egor Demin did what was asked during Las Vegas Summer League
Brooklyn Nets guard Egor Demin had plenty of people watching how he would handle his first taste of NBA action in the Las Vegas Summer League that happened last month. After being selected by Brooklyn with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Demin showed in Las Vegas that he could have a future as an off-ball contributor, something that the coaching staff liked to see from him. "Yeah, his role here (Summer League) was WAY different than what we're going to ask him to do in the regular season," a Nets coach said of Demin's role in the summer league, according to Spotrac's Keith Smith. Demin, who came into the Draft as the best passer in the class, did not spend nearly as much time with the ball in his hands as he did during his one season at BYU, but that was by design. "But that's what this is for, right? We tasked him to shoot it from deep and to shoot it a lot. He did exactly as he was asked," the Nets coach continued. "We know about the playmaking. This was a chance to see if he could get his shot off against NBA-level defenders. He did and those shots went in a lot too. We couldn't be happier with his work here (Summer League). Demin, 19, finished the 2024-25 college basketball season with a 24.9% usage rate as he was clearly the point guard for the Cougars and was making all of the decisions for the team. After playing three games for the Nets in the summer league, Demin finished with a 19.4% usage rate as he had to share the ball-handling responsibilities with players like fellow rookies Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf, among others. As the Nets coach alluded to, Demin played more of an off-ball role than he has at any point over the past few seasons and the results were encouraging for what his future could be in the NBA. Demin not only shot 43.5% from three-point land, but he shot that well 7.7 three-point attempts per game, showing that the concern over his jumpshot may have been a bit overblown based on the early results. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets' Egor Demin did what was asked during Las Vegas Summer League
