Alexei Popyrin’s defense of the Canadian Open title ended in the quarter-finals, with the Australian beaten by German top seed Alexander Zverev in three sets.
Popyrin, who became the first Australian to win an ATP Masters 1000 tournament at last year’s eventwon the first set before Zverev rallied.
The German, who lost to number one Jannik Sinner in the final of this year’s Australian Open and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, not only defeated Popyrin but also a rowdy fan late in the competition.
After Zverev scored the winning point, he turned to the heckler and waved “goodbye”, before meeting Popyrin at the net to shake his hand.
Popyrin won the first set when her sweet backhand volley after a long rally grazed the top of the net and dropped for the winning point – much to the delight of her fans.
Zverev responded by immediately shooting a ball completely out of the stadium in frustration, but quickly regrouped to lead 2-0 in the second set.
Popyrin took his own break before holding his serve at 4-4. Zverev, who won the Canadian title in Montreal eight years ago by beating childhood idol Roger Federer, took a 5-4 lead, then broke his opponent again to tie the match.
Ousted in the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament, Zverev earned another break to lead 2-0 in the third set before serving the match.
Zverev has won two clay-court tournaments this year and is the highest-ranked player on the court in Toronto.
The German, 2017 tournament champion, will face 11th seed Karen Khachanov in the semi-final.
Australia’s number one men’s player, Alex de Minaur, will face American Ben Shelton tomorrow morning, AEST, in the quarter-final.
AP/ABC
