Alexei Popyrin will compete in his fourth Masters 1000 quarter-final in Toronto. The defending champion faced Holger Rune in the fourth round and scored a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory in two hours and three minutes.
Thus, the Aussie secured his 13th top-10 victory and the seventh at the previous ten encounters. Only Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner (8-2) have been more efficient in the most recent ten encounters against the top-10 opponents.
More impressively, Popyrin is 9-2 in his last 11 Masters 1000 matches against the rivals from the exclusive group, proving his quality on the notable stages.
Rune came to Toronto after withdrawing from Washington. He defeated two rivals and took the opener against Alexei before losing ground and fading from the court in sets two and three.
The 18th seed dominated with his first serve and defended three of four break points. He took 40% of the return points and generated 14 break chances, seizing three to control the scoreboard in sets two and three.
ADVERTISEMENT
They fired over 60 unreturned serves. Rune played superb tennis at the net and claimed ten points more than his rival. However, Popyrin took charge from the baseline and forged a massive 44-22 advantage.
Alexei landed 30 winners and 24 unforced errors, taming his strokes nicely and remaining on the title course. Holger had to dig deep in the early stages of the encounter.
The young Dane denied eight break points in games two and four, locking the result at 2-2 and avoiding an early setback. Popyrin wasted his chances and sprayed a double fault in the fifth game to drop serve and fall behind.
Rune served for the opener at 5-4 and faced three break points. He denied them with fine hitting and held with a service winner for 6-4 in 53 minutes. The Aussie served well in the second set and kept the pressure on the other side.
ADVERTISEMENT
He landed a forehand winner in the fourth game for a break and a 3-1 advantage. The defending champion moved 4-1 up with an ace and mirrored that two games later to maintain the advantage.
Alexei made another push on the return at 5-2,. landing a winner at the net and introducing a decider after an hour and 23 minutes. Like in the second set, Popyrin secured a break in the fourth game of the final set with a forced error.
He saved two break points in the next one and cemented the advantage. The Aussie served for the win at 5-3 and sprayed a double fault to face a break point. He saved it with a powerful serve and earned a match point with another.
Alexei landed a crafty lob winner to seal the deal and book a place in the last four.
