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Montreal, Canada, 12 August 2024 | Dan Imhoff

Alexei Popyrin ­has long hinted that a big result is well within his capabilities only for injuries or inconsistency to put paid to further progression.

A maiden ATP Masters 1000 final in Montreal this week has come at an ideal time, a coming-of-age reward days after his 25th birthday in a season that initially showed promise before a series of stumbling blocks – more injuries and inconsistencies – slowed his climb.

In a rain-delayed schedule, Popyrin stunned the in-form Sebastian Korda 7-6(0) 6-3 only hours after he brought down fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz 3-6 7-6(5) 7-5 in a near-three-hour thriller.

That brought his tally to four top 20 victims in succession – including two top 10 – and a shot at toppling Andrey Rublev at a second Masters 1000 event this season.

“It means the world. It’s an amazing feeling. It’s an amazing achievement for myself and sometimes you’ve got to pat yourself on the back,” Popyrin said. “I think I’ll do that tonight but tomorrow it’s all hands on deck and back to work.”

In April, Popyrin dethroned defending Monte Carlo champion Rublev before compatriot Alex de Minaur halted his push for a maiden ATP Masters 1000 clay-court quarterfinal.

On top of a semifinal run in Doha in February and having tested Novak Djokovic in four-set defeats in the second round of the Australian Open and third round of Wimbledon there were glimpses a breakout run was close.

“It means a lot. You know, I’ve put a lot of work in this year and last year but especially this year,” Popyrin said. “It finally has paid off a little bit and hopefully it just keeps going because I’m putting in the work and this is a testament for all the work that I’ve put in.”

Still riding the highs of representing Australia at the Paris Olympics, Popyrin has had no qualms switching back to hard courts in Montreal this week.

Following a win over world No.39 Tomas Machac in the opening round, he landed his first top 20 win since April over Ben Shelton and saved three match points against seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov for his second ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal and the clash against Hurkacz.

While he would draw confidence from his Monte Carlo upset of Rublev, Popyrin accepted the different surface with a bigger prize on the line factored into the rematch.

“It’s going to be very different. I lost to him on hard court (in Vienna last year). I know he’s a different player on it even though he’s won a Masters event on clay,” he said.

“He plays a tough game on hard court. It’s really quick, it’s really fast, he takes it really early. We had a really solid practice for two hours earlier on in the week, so I’ll take some tips from there.”

Already assured of a return to the top 40 for reaching the semifinals, the world No.62 was now guaranteed to crack the top 30 for the first time ahead of his Cincinnati campaign and his fifth US Open.

“I think all year I’ve been playing well on the hard courts. Had a few injuries at the start of the year. I missed three important tournaments for me. One in Australia, one in Dubai, one in Indian Wells,” Popyrin said. “Those were three really big tournaments that I missed but, you know, the level of tennis that I was playing at the start of the year was high.

“I played Novak in the Aussie Open, made semis at Doha before I got my injury, you know played a good tournament in Miami and I think that feeling from the hard court early on in the year has just progressed to the hard court towards the end and it’s really good.”

Fans can watch the final tomorrow at 9:30 am on both beIN SPORTS CONNECT and Prime Video (for free with their 7-day free trial)

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