Alexander Zverev reached his 21st Masters 1000 semi-final on Monday by ending the Canadian title defence of Alexei Popyrin 6-7 (8/10), 6-4, 6-3 at the ATP Toronto Masters.The final game, with Zverev serving at 5-3, was interrupted by shouts from an unruly fan who was tossed out by security.The distraction ended a run of 14 consecutive points on serve, with the seed double-faulting once he was able to continue serving.He finished off the evening with a sharp volley winner at the net on his first match point.Zverev completed his 40th win of the year in just over two and a half hours.The world number three won the tournament in 2017 but had not been past the quarter-finals in Canada since.”After losing the first set, I had to tell myself we were both playing well,” the holder of seven Masters trophies said.”I had one or two mistakes at the end of the first, but it was a high-level match.”I felt that if I kept playing well, I would get my chances — and I did.
I can’t complain about the second and third sets.”Zverev will bid for the oddly scheduled Thursday final against three-time semi-finalist Karen Khachanov, who dismissed young American Alex Michelsen 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).”It was a very close, competitive match,” Khachanov said.
“I had to come back from some tough situations.”How you handle that mentally is important. I was glad to close it out in the second set. “I had to try and not give him the opportunity to step in and attack; that’s what I did today.”Zverev has won five of the seven matches he has played against Khachanov. Popyrin and Zverev duelled throughout the evenly matched 71-minute opening set as it went into a tiebreaker.Zverev was unable to convert on two winning chances, but Popyrin came good on his own second opportunity with a net cord winner that caught his opponent stranded at the baseline.The German began to turn the tables in the second set, taking a 4-1 lead only to see the Aussie level at 4-all.Zverev pulled away to level the match at a set apiece, breaking for 6-4 as Popyrin sent a volley wide.The top seed began the final set with a 3-0 lead on his way into the tournament final four at the pre-US Open event.Popyrin remains winless against Zverev after losing all four of their matches.
Tue, 05 Aug 2025 04:24:16 GMT
