Sports fans love a great Cinderella story, and the 2024 National Bank Open at IGA Stadium in Montréal definitely delivered when Australian Alexei Popyrin lifted the winner’s trophy.
Here’s a look back at a week of surprising (to say the least!) tennis.
Popyrin the giant slayer
No one saw it coming, but Alexei Popyrin touched down in Montréal with a plan. And his incredible run culminated in a 6-2, 6-4 win over Andrey Rublev, his first Masters 1000 title and one of the biggest surprises in NBO history.
It would be an understatement to say Popyrin wasn’t on anyone’s radar. He began his quest as the No.62 and soared 39 spots in the rankings to World No.23 over the course of the week. Along the way, he took down six higher-ranked players including three members of the Top 10—Machac (No. 39), Shelton (No. 14), Dimitrov (No. 10), Hurkacz (No. 6), Korda (No. 18) and Rublev (No. 8)—often after clawing his way back into the matches.
Read also: Popyrin wins biggest title of career and gets the private jet ride he wanted
The last time a lower ranked player secured the crown was more than 30 years ago, when No.95 Mikael Pernfors won the 1993 Canadian Masters.
The love rains down on Félix
While his one and only match (a loss to the mighty Flavio Cobolli) won’t go down as one of Félix Auger-Aliassime’s fondest NBO memories, the previous evening on Centre Court very well might.
In a short ceremony ahead of the night matches on August 6, he and Gabriela Dabrowski were honoured for winning bronze in mixed doubles at the Paris Games.
To mark the occasion, the tournament invited Daniel Nestor, one of only two other Olympic tennis medal winners in Canadian history, to congratulate them and symbolically pass on the torch.
Sébastien Lareau, with whom Daniel Nestor shares his hardware from Sydney 2000, was unable to attend.
A beautiful moment.
Bublik the entertainer
Matches don’t often end on such a comical note.
Both the winner (Ben Shelton) and the loser (Alexander Bublik) were all smiles as they shook hands at the end of their first-round battle (7-6(4), 6-2) on Centre Court.
Read also: Granollers and Zeballos reign supreme in doubles
On match point, Shelton launched a drop shot, and when Bublik realized he’d never get there in time, he threw down his racquet. The ball proceeded to bounce right off the sweet spot and landed on the other side of the net to the roar of the crowd.
But because the racquet had left Bublik’s hand, the point automatically went to a totally bewildered Ben Shelton.
The shot of the tournament, for sure. Even if it didn’t count.
Rabbit, rabbit
It was everywhere.
On the apparel worn by the ball kids and volunteers and at merch stands all over the site.
It was the first edition of a multi-year partnership between Tennis Canada and Psycho Bunny, a rapidly growing Québec clothing brand that temporarily swapped its usual crossbones for tennis racquets.
The famous ears were even spotted on Centre Court, on a jacket worn by tournament director Valérie Tétreault, when she grabbed a drying machine to get things rolling again after one of the week’s many downpours.
Fans in the stands
Despite the so-so weather and three cancelled sessions, an impressive 227,000 spectators (only 10,000 short of the 2022 record) visited the site.
And on the eve of the final, the NBO shared some really great news.
Valérie Tétreault and Québec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon confirmed the province would invest nearly $3M to bring the stadium up to standards ahead of the 2025 NBO in its expanded 96-player format.
Feature Photo : Joël Lemay/Agence QMI
Related news
