Open Extended Reactions

In a rain-affected National Bank Open, fifth seed Andrey Rublev of Russia booked his place in the final after defeating Matteo Arnaldi of Italy 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals. Rublev’s victory came after a delay of 1 hour, 40 minutes due to rain, with the match resuming at 1-1 in the second set.

Rublev, who has won titles in Madrid and Hong Kong this year, expressed his satisfaction with the outcome, stating, “The wait has been worth it. I’m happy to be in my first Canadian final. I just want to recover, rest well and be ready for tomorrow.”

Rublev will face Alexei Popyrin of Australia in the final after Popyrin defeated American Sebastian Korda 7-6 (0), 6-3 in the other semifinal. Popyrin’s victory came after a series of impressive performances, including a quarterfinal win over fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz.

On Saturday, Rublev had upset top seed Jannik Sinner, while Arnaldi had reached his first Masters 1000-level semifinal. Korda, the winner last week in Washington, had defeated second seed Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals.

Popyrin’s journey to the final was particularly remarkable, as he rallied from being two points away from defeat against Hurkacz before eventually prevailing in three sets. He then shut out Korda in the first-set tiebreaker of their semifinal encounter.

Popyrin acknowledged the significance of his achievement, saying, “It’s an amazing achievement for myself to be honest, and sometimes you have to pat yourself on the back. I’ll do that tonight, but tomorrow it’s all hands on deck and back to work.”

The National Bank Open has faced weather-related challenges, with rain washing out play on Thursday night and all of Friday due to Tropical Storm Debby. The event has been running behind schedule as a result.