By Marc McGowan
Australia is on the verge of creating 24-year grand slam history after Alexei Popyrin upset his fourth top-20 opponent in a row to reach a maiden Masters 1000 final in Montreal.
Popyrin, who represented Australia at the Olympics in Paris, rallied from a break down twice in the first set to defeat last week’s Washington champion, Seb Korda, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3 to continue a stunning run where he also eliminated Ben Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov and Hubert Hurkacz.
Alexei Popyrin beat a fourth straight top-20 rival to make the Montreal Masters final.Credit: Getty Images
The ball-crushing 25-year-old outlasted world No.6 Hurkacz 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 earlier on Monday, after the remnants of tropical storm Debby wreaked havoc with the schedule in previous days.
Popyrin’s breakthrough week has propelled him to No.30 in the live rankings – eight spots higher than he has ever been – a fortnight out from the US Open, where Australia could have three men seeded at a singles major for the first time in two decades.
The last time it happened was at Wimbledon in 2000, when Lleyton Hewitt (No.7), Mark Philippoussis (No.10) and Pat Rafter (No.12) were all among the seeds in the old system when only 16 players earned that status.
“It means the world. It’s an amazing feeling, and an amazing achievement for myself, to be honest,” Popyrin said of making his first Masters final.
“Sometimes, you need to pat yourself on the back, and I think I’ll do that tonight, but tomorrow, it’s all hands on deck and back to work.”
After reeling in an early 1-3 deficit, Popyrin blew multiple set points on Korda’s serve in the 10th game, then conceded another break in the next game to give the 18th-ranked American the chance to serve for a one-set advantage.
However, there was another twist. Korda double-faulted on the second break point he faced in the game, and seventh overall, to send the set to a tie-breaker, which Popyrin breezed through without dropping a point.
Korda never recovered, with Popyrin breaking him twice more in a dominant second set without facing a break point himself.
Popyrin has given himself a chance to be seeded at this month’s US Open.Credit: Getty Images
“It was a topsy-turvy first set – a few breaks here, a few breaks there – and I had some break point opportunities and set points at 5-4 that I didn’t convert,” Popyrin said.
“I played some sloppy points there, and I just stuck in mentally strong, and if I had another opportunity, I knew exactly what I was going to do on my next break point. Unfortunately, he hit a double fault there, and I just took that momentum into the tie-break, and I feel like I figured out what I had to do after that point.
“The second set, honestly, I kind of felt like I had to give it my all because if I went into a third set, I don’t know if my legs would make it.”
Awaiting Popyrin in the final is resurgent Russian Andrey Rublev, who breezed past Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-2 after ousting world No.1 Jannik Sinner in three sets in the quarter-finals.
They have split their two meetings to date, with Popyrin beating Rublev in straight sets on Monte-Carlo clay four months ago after losing a tight two-setter on an indoor hardcourt in Vienna last year.
“It’s going to be very different [to Monte-Carlo],” Popyrin said.
“He plays a tough game on hardcourt – it’s really quick, it’s really fast, and he takes [the ball] really early. We had a really solid practice for two hours early in the week, so I’ll take some tips from there and see what happens.”
There are still a few things that need to happen for Australia to have three men seeded at the US Open.
Popyrin partnered Alex de Minaur in doubles at the Paris Olympics.Credit: Getty Images
Only Alex de Minaur – who withdrew from this week’s Cincinnati Masters – is certain to be seeded in New York, and that is if he has sufficiently recovered from the hip injury that caused him to withdraw before his Wimbledon quarter-final last month.
De Minaur played doubles with Popyrin at the Olympics but pulled out of the singles, so there is lingering doubt about his US Open involvement.
Popyrin and Jordan Thompson, who sits No.32 in the live rankings after making the Atlanta final then losing to Korda in the Washington quarter-finals, are on the seeding bubble.
They are both competing in Cincinnati and may need to perform well again to earn a grand slam seeding for the first time.
Neither Popyrin nor Thompson have entered the final warm-up event at Winston-Salem, but the seedings will be locked in before that tournament ends.
Popyrin is enjoying an excellent run of form, having also made the round of 32 at Wimbledon and the last 16 at the Olympics, where it took Novak Djokovic and Alex Zverev, respectively, to defeat him.
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