Toronto Masters: Defending champion Popyrin ousts Rune to set up quarter-final against top seed Zverev

Alexei Popyrin beat Holger Rune 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday night

Alexei Popyrin, Toronto 2025 | © Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press / AP / SIPA

Tennis Majors

August 3, 2025

National Bank Open presented by Rogers •Round of 16 • Completed

See draw

A. PopyrinvsH. Rune

Australian Alexei Popyrin, the No 18 seed, moved into the quarter-finals of the Toronto Masters by winning against Dane Holger Rune, the No 5 seed, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 at the Aviva Centre on Saturday night. Popyrin, ranked No 26, will face German Alexander Zverev, the top seed, who benefited from Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo’s retirement (6-4, 1-0 ret.).

Popyrin lost the first set despite having 11 break points. “I was pissed” he said. “I felt like I shouldn’t have been down one set. 11 break points is a lot of break points to not convert. I was really, really angry. I was looking at my team, and I was pissed.”

“But look, I told myself, the next opportunity that I get I’m just going to go full and play aggressive, and that’s what I did. The next break point I converted, and from there I felt quite comfortable.” Popyrin would not lose his serve in the rest of the match, breaking Rune twice in the second set and once in the third.

Serving for the match at 5-3, Popyrin had to save one break point that would have allowed Rune to serve at 5-4 and try to level the match at 5-5. But that did not happen, and Popyrin converted his first match point.

Popyrin : “comfortable until that last game”

“I didn’t make my first five first serves, and that’s not typical of me, and I don’t know what happened there” Popyrin said. “I had to save a break point there in the clutch. Then a backhand lob, which typically I don’t really hit well, it went in, so that was a nice feeling.”

“I felt really comfortable up until that game, but to not make five first serves in a row is a little bit, it gets on your nerves a little bit. So just to come through that game and to battle through that game was a good feeling, and then, you know, you won the match, so it’s nice.”

The Australian, who has the 1000 points of his win in 2024 to defend, is having a great run at the Toronto Masters, edging out Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 10 seed (5-7, 6-4, 6-4) and defeated Canadian wildcard Nicolas Arseneault (7-6 (7), 6-3) in the previous rounds of the Rogers Cup.

9-0 in Canada

He is now on a 9-match winning streak in Canada after making his main draw debut in Montreal last year. He is also 4-0 against Top 10 players there, having defeated No. 10 Dimitrov in the third round, No. 6 Hurkacz in the quarterfinals, and No. 8 Rublev in the final twelve months ago.

It’s Popyrin’s fourth ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal after 2023 Cincinnati, 2024 Montreal title, and 2025 Monte-Carlo.

Rune, ranked No 9, beat Frenchman Alexandre Muller, the No 29 seed (6-2, 6-4) and Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (7-6 (7), 6-3), for what was his first Tour appearance following Wimbledon and his withdrawal at Washington.