Popyrin's Debacle: From Champion in Canada to Playing in Qualifying Rounds Two Years Later
The Australian was crowned in Montreal 2024 in a tournament that saw many withdrawals due to the Olympic Games, and since then he has not won any more trophies and has fallen out of the Top 100.
From lifting the champion's trophy under the lights of the main court to playing the qualifying round just two years later. This is the current situation of Alexei Popyrin. The Australian is the best example of the voracity that consumes tennis. If you cannot maintain your position in the elite, whether due to injuries or poor results, the consequences are pronounced. He lifted the title at the 2024 Canada Masters 1000, in one of the strangest editions, and now has progressed past the first round of qualifying.
Having not received an invitation from the tournament, despite being one of the last winners, Popyrin had no choice but to go through the qualifying round due to his ranking (world number 103). A step that many find hard to accept, but others have no choice but to take. This is what the 26-year-old tennis player has done, and so far he is just one step away from the main draw, after defeating Thanasi Kokkinakis, who is struggling with the hell of injuries that have prevented him from progressing and had to retire with a score of 6-4, 2-3.
Alexei Popyrin went six months without winning a match, suffering ten consecutive losses
Still, Popyrin's fall is surprising. After his triumph in 2024, he ranked as the 19th player in the world, but since then he has faced a series of injuries and poor results that have caused him to drop out of the Top 100 of the ATP ranking. In fact, before this victory, he had suffered six consecutive losses and had not won a match since May 20. He even went from August 28, 2025, to February 11, 2026, without knowing victory, that is, ten consecutive losses in six months.
And the Australian, far from making excuses, faced the truth: “Probably, it was the least pleasant season of my career so far, but I learned a lot about how I want to approach the rest of my career,” he assured at the end of 2025. But he held hope for a new resurgence, “I feel that I have the level to return to the top 20”, which has not yet come to pass.
In just two years, Popyrin has gone from winning the tournament to having to play the qualifying round to enter the final draw.
Incredible to see Tsitsipas having to play the Qualy of a M1000. He was a finalist here, precisely, eight years ago.
By the way, it’s the first time that… https://t.co/8FCsaHoG0R pic.twitter.com/dO5QUXuH28— José Morón (@jmgmoron) August 1, 2026
However, no matter what happens, no one can take away the title he won in 2024 at a Masters 1000 in Canada, completely influenced by the Paris Olympic Games. In fact, it started one day after the final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. And, as expected, most of the top 10 withdrew. Except for Jannik Sinner, who did not participate in the Olympics due to injury, Andrey Rublev, Alexander Zverev, and Daniil Medvedev.
However, they all fell along the way: Zverev and Sinner in the quarterfinals, Casper Ruud in the round of 16, Medvedev in the first round. This allowed the semifinals to feature Matteo Arnaldi against Rublev and Popyrin against Sebastian Korda. The final pitted the Australian against the Russian in a match where the former claimed victory by 6-2, 6-4.
Who would have told Alexei Popyrin at that moment that even weeks later he would eliminate Novak Djokovic in the third round and enjoy the peak of his career, that this would be his last trophy to date as a professional tennis player and that it wouldn't be long before he fell out of the Top 20, nor that a year and a half later he would be out of the top 100 in the world. Tennis, such a beautiful yet cruel sport at the same time.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, La debacle de Popyrin: de ser campeón en Canadá a jugar en la fase previa dos años después