Defending champ Alexei Popyrin advances to quarterfinals at National Bank Open in Toronto
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TORONTO — Alexei Popyrin remains in the hunt for a second straight National Bank Open crown.
The Australian battled back from a set down to defeat No. 5 seed Holger Rune of Denmark 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and secure a spot in the quarterfinals at the Canadian men’s tennis championship on Saturday.
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Defending champ Alexei Popyrin advances to quarterfinals at National Bank Open in Toronto Back to video
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Popyrin, who is seeded 18th in Toronto and entered the event 26th overall in the ATP Tour’s overall rankings, won last year’s tournament in Montreal for a third career victory.
Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, also advanced to the quarters after No. 14 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina retired due to injury in the second set down 6-4, 1-0 in the late match on the York University campus in northwest Toronto.
Popyrin will face Zverev, who won the 2017 Canadian title, for a spot in the semifinals.
Rune — the world No. 9 — went up 3-2 after Popyrin double-faulted and fought off three break points to take the first set at Sobeys Stadium.
Poised to turn 26 on Tuesday, the six-foot-five Popyrin pushed back in the second, twice breaking his 22-year-old opponent, who won the Barcelona Open on clay back in April.
Popyrin then broke Rune to go up 3-1 in the third set before serving out for the match to secure his comeback.
Alex Michelsen of the United States moved on with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over countryman Learner Tien at the ATP Masters 1000 event. The No. 26 seed continued to roll after also ousting the third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti of Italy earlier this week.
Karen Khachanov — the No. 11 seed from Russia — picked up a fourth-round victory of his own Saturday, topping No. 8 Casper Ruud of Norway 6-4, 7-5.
Canadian wild cards Cleeve Harper of Calgary and Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont. — the last Canadians standing in Toronto after a disappointing singles showing — were ousted 7-5, 7-6 (3) by Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Sander Arends of the Netherlands in second-round doubles play.
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 all skipped the US$9.19-million hardcourt event expanded to a 96-player field for 2025.
The tournament runs through Thursday.
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