"My girlfriend isn't traveling with me and I win" - Alexei Popyrin gives hilarious shoutout to his girlfriend Amy Pederick after Canadian Open triumph
Alexei Popyrin won the biggest title of his career at the Canadian Open after beating Andrey Rublev in the final. The Aussie gave a hilarious shout-out to his girlfriend Amy Pederick after his triumph.
Alexei Popyrin faced Andrey Rublev in the Canadian Open final on August 12. The Australian reached the biggest match of his career after five consecutive top-20 wins. He continued his fantastic form and utilized his heavy booming serves and powerful forehands to outplay Rublev in the title clash.
Popyrin started the match by breaking Rublev to love in the very first game. He had another break of serve in the fifth game before wrapping up the set at 6-2. Both players exchanged service breaks in the first few games of the second set but Popyrin eventually broke again and ended up with a 6-2, 6-4 win.
Popyrin was over the moon after winning the biggest title of his career in Montreal. During the presentation ceremony, the 25-year-old expressed his heartfelt gratitude to his parents, girlfriend, and team for making enormous sacrifices so he could succeed in his career.
"Not just me, but my family, my girlfriend, my team, everybody around me. They have sacrificed their whole lives for me and for me to win this for them is just amazing," Popyrin said.
The Australian also hilariously drew a correlation between his girlfriend/ Amy Pederick, not traveling to Montreal and him winning the title. He also hoped that Pederick would come to New York to watch him at the 2024 US Open.
"This is one of the few weeks when my girlfriend isn't traveling with me and I win the tournament. I hope she comes to New York now," he joked.
Amy Pederick and Alexei Popyrin have been in a relationship since 2019. Pederick is a professional physiotherapist and helps Popyrin with his fitness and training.
Alexei Popyrin surges to career-high ranking with Canadian Open triumph
Alexei Popyrin will rise to World No. 23, a new career high, on the ATP Ranking after collecting 1000 ranking points at the 2024 Canadian Open. The Australian's conquest in Quebec was made even more special by the fact that he battled past five top-20 opponents, with three placed inside the top-10.
He defeated Tomas Machac, Ben Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz, Sebastian Korda, and Andrey Rublev, to win the Masters 1000 title. With his triumph at the 2024 Canadian Open, Popyrin became the first Australian in over 11 years, since Lleyton Hewitt at the 2003 Indian Wells Masters, to win a 1000-level title.
Alexei Popyrin, who is ranked 62nd in the world, is also the fourth lowest-ranked man to win a Masters 1000 tournament. In this list, Borna Coric, ranked World No. 152 at the 2022 Western & Southern Open, ranks #1. Roberto Carretero (No. 143 at 1996 Hamburg) is at #3, Mikael Pernfors (No. 95 at 1993 Canadian Open) ranks #3 and Chris Woodruff (No. 57 at 1997 Canadian Open) is #5.