Holger Rune is out of the Canadian Open after losing to defending champion Alexei Popyrin in the fourth round.
Popyrin marched on to the quarterfinals in Toronto, coming back from a set down to defeat Rune 4-6, 6-2 6-3.
With his triumph, he became the first player in the Open Era to win his first nine men’s singles main draw matches at the event.
The Dane’s game was looking promising, following his three-day coaching trial period with Andre Agassi, but ultimately, he couldn’t find an answer for an in-form Popyrin.
Photo by Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images
Following his defeat, Rune took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say: “Good things and bad things tonight. I need to step up.”
The world number nine added: “And you go out and defend that title @AlexeiPopyrin99”
Popyrin won the Canadian Open last year, defeating Andrey Rublev in the final to clinch his first Masters 1000 title.
He became the first Australian to win a Masters crown since Lleyton Hewitt at Indian Wells in 2003.
Photo by Mathew Tsang/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesHolger Rune’s results during the North American hard-court swing so far
After crashing out of Wimbledon in the first round to Nicolas Jarry, Rune had nearly a month out from playing at tour-level events.
He was scheduled to play at the Washington Open, but withdrew due to injury before playing his opening match against Alexandre Muller.
In Toronto, Rune got back in the win column with a victory over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, and in round three, he beat Muller in straight sets.
Rune will now look ahead to the Cincinnati Open, which is scheduled to begin on the seventh of August.