Alexei Popyrin pulled off a surprising upset by winning the 2024 Toronto Open. The young Australian was unstoppable, defeating a list of top-tier players before facing Russian Andrey Rublev in the final. Popyrin also won 6-2, 6-4, making him the proud winner of the prestigious 2024 Toronto Open – also known as the National Bank Open. In the women's tournament, Jessica Pegula defended her 2023 title. The American defeated her opponent Amanda Anisimova in the three-set final: 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
Tournament of surprises
It quickly became clear that this edition of the Toronto Open could be called a tournament of surprises. Daniil Medvedev (against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (against Kei Nishikori) were both eliminated in the second round, while other big names like Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz, and Ben Shelton were also eliminated in that phase of the tournament. Tallon Griekspoor, the only Dutchman participating in the National Bank Open, was already out. In the first round, the North Hollander lost in three sets to his Italian opponent Lorenzo Sonego, who himself was also eliminated a round later.
In the women's tournament, several big names were already out of contention for the title at this stage. Ons Jabeur lost a heavy first-round defeat to Naomi Osaka, and a round later, the Canadian Open Tennis tournament was also over for Daria Kasatkina, Madison Keys, and Elina Svitolina. They lost their matches to Anisimova, Peyton Stearns, and Marta Kostyuk, respectively, and thus had an early start on their next tournament.
Gauff and Sinner are killed
The third round also saw several major upsets. Coco Gauff lost in straight sets to Diana Shnaider, Taylor Townsend crushed Elena Ostapenko, and in the men's tournament, Popyrin proved too strong for Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. As if that wasn't enough, a round later, in the quarterfinals, world number one Jannik Sinner also fell. The Italian, the top seed at the Toronto Open, had to concede defeat to Rublev.
The quarterfinals certainly saw plenty of surprises. Alexander Zverev lost to Sebastian Korda in this phase of the National Bank Open, Popyrin also defeated Hubert Hurkacz, and Aryna Sabalenka exited the women's tournament after being soundly defeated by Anisimova. All these developments meant that Korda, Popyrin, Rublev, and Matteo Arnaldi were the men's semifinalists, while Anisimova, Emma Navarro, Pegula, and Shnaider were the final four women remaining at the 2024 Toronto Open.
Relatively quick semi-finals at the National Bank Open
The semifinals, however, weren't particularly exciting. Rublev dispatched Arnaldi in just over an hour, while Popyrin once again demonstrated his fine form by defeating Korda in straight sets. In the women's event, Pegula defeated Shnaider 6-4, 6-3, with Anisimova the only player needing three sets to secure a spot in the final. Navarro fought back fiercely, but ultimately, it was Anisimova who secured the victory after nearly two hours of tennis. This meant the women's final was between defending champion Pegula and Anisimova, while the men's final was contested by Rublev and Popyrin.
Final victories for Pegula and Popyrin
The women's final went either way. Pegula took the first set relatively easily (6-3), after which her compatriot seemed to take control of the match in the second set, winning 6-2. Suddenly, however, things took a completely different turn, as Pegula won the deciding set 6-1, securing her second consecutive title at the 2024 Toronto Open. It was the 30-year-old American's second WTA title of the year, after the grass-court tournament in Berlin.
After defeating Tomas Machac, Shelton, Dimitrov, Hurkacz, and Korda, Popyrin faced Rublev in the final. He also played a convincing tournament up to and including the semifinals, so it promised to be an exciting finale. However, it was anything but. While Popyrin served incredibly well, Rublev couldn't keep his cool, ultimately resulting in a 6-2, 6-4 victory for Popyrin, the world number thirty. The final victory at the 2024 Toronto Open was the biggest win of his career, which now includes three titles after Singapore and Umag.
Winners Toronto Open 2024
Men's singles : Alexei Popyrin
Women's singles : Jessica Pegula
Men's doubles : Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos
Women's doubles : Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe
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