Popyrin Advances to Quarterfinals at National Bank Open

Alexei Popyrin is aiming for a second consecutive National Bank Open title. The Australian player overcame a one-set deficit to defeat Denmark's Holger Rune, the fifth seed, with a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. This victory secured Popyrin a place in the quarterfinals of the Canadian men’s tennis championship on Saturday.

Popyrin, seeded 18th in Toronto and ranked 26th overall on the ATP Tour, previously won last year's tournament in Montreal, marking his third career victory. Rune initially took the lead, going up 3-2 after Popyrin's double fault, and then managed to fend off three break points to claim the first set at Sobeys Stadium.

In the second set, Popyrin, who will turn 26 on Tuesday, responded by breaking his 22-year-old opponent twice. Rune had previously won the Barcelona Open on clay in April. Popyrin then broke Rune again in the third set to take a 3-1 lead before successfully serving out the match, completing his comeback.

In other matches, Alex Michelsen of the United States also advanced to the quarterfinals, defeating his compatriot Learner Tien with a score of 6-3, 6-3. The 26th seed continued his strong performance after previously eliminating Italy's third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti earlier in the week. Karen Khachanov, the 11th seed from Russia, also secured a fourth-round victory, defeating Norway's eighth-seeded Casper Ruud with a score of 6-4, 7-5.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the tournament's top seed, played against Argentina's 14th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo in the late match. Popyrin will face the winner of that match in the quarterfinals. In doubles play, Canadian wild cards Cleeve Harper and Liam Draxl were eliminated by Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Sander Arends of the Netherlands with a score of 7-5, 7-6 (3).

Notably, top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 5 Jack Draper of Britain, and No. 6 Novak Djokovic of Serbia did not participate in the US$9.19-million hardcourt event, which has expanded to a 96-player field for 2025.