\t\t\t\t\t![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Popyrin-celebrates-700x450.jpg\" "\\"Alexei")
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Alexei Popyrin has kept his Canadian ATP Masters 1000 title defence on track in spectacular fashion, backing up his upset of Daniil Medvedev with another come-from-behind win \u2013 this time over No.5 seed Holger Rune \u2013 to reach the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Popyrin rallied for a 4-6 6-2 6-1 victory over the higher-ranked Dane, marking his ninth consecutive match win at the prestigious event.<\/p>\n
In 2024, Popyrin stormed to a breakthrough Masters title at the Canadian Open, defeating five seeds and three top-10 players \u2013 including Andrey Rublev in the final.<\/p>\n
The tournament, which alternates each year between Montreal and Toronto, is clearly a happy hunting ground for the Australian, who entered this year\u2019s draw ranked world No.26. <\/p>\n
READ: Why Alexei Popyrin isn\u2019t looking for \u2018trade-off tennis\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve still got 1000 points to defend here,\u201d Popyrin told Tennis TV earlier this week when asked about returning as defending champion in a different city.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m feeling quite good here, so let\u2019s hope I can keep it going.\u201d<\/p>\n He did exactly that against Rune, despite missing 11 break point opportunities in a tense 54-minute opening set.<\/p>\n In an impressive turnaround, Popyrin broke serve in both the fourth and final games of the second set, then repeated a similar pattern in the decider.<\/p>\n Across two hours, the Australian finished with 12 winners \u2013 including six aces \u2013 against 13 unforced errors, while Rune fired 11 winners but proved more erratic.<\/p>\n