Andrey Rublev, of Russia, reacts after defeating Matteo Arnaldi, of Italy, in their semifinal match at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Montreal on Aug. 11.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday in the National Bank Open semi-finals after waiting out a rain delay early in the second set.
Rublev, the 26-year-old Russian with victories this year in Madrid and Hong Kong, will face Alexei Popyrin of Australia in the final. Popyrin beat American Sebastian Korda 7-6 (0), 6-3.
“The wait has been worth it.” Rublev said about the delay of 1 hour, 40 minutes at 1-1 in the second set. “I’m happy to be in my first Canadian final. I just want to recover, rest well and be ready for tomorrow.”
On Saturday, he beat top-seeded Jannik Sinner.
Arnaldi, from Italy, reached his first Masters 1000-level semi-final.
Earlier Sunday in the quarter-finals, Popyrin topped fourth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5, and Korda – the winner last week in Washington – beat second-seeded Alexander Zverev 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-4.
Popyrin rallied to beat Hurkacz after being within two points of defeat, then shut out Korda in the first-set tiebreaker.
“It’s an amazing achievement for myself to be honest, and sometimes you have to pat yourself on the back,” Popyrin said about reaching the final. “I’ll do that tonight, but tomorrow it’s all hands on deck and back to work.”
Rain washed out play Thursday night and all of Friday as remnants of Tropical Storm Debby rolled through, putting the event behind schedule.