Karen Khachanov Topples Alexander Zverev To Reach ATP Toronto Final

NDTV

3 days ago

Karen Khachanov rallied from 3-1 down in the final set tiebreaker to defeat top seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) on Wednesday to reach the final of the ATP Toronto Masters. The 11th seed from Russia, who had lost two previous semi-finals in Canada, will play his 11th career ATP final against either Taylor Fritz or Ben Shelton, who met later in an all-America semi-final. The Fritz-Shelton match was paused before the start due to a problem with the electronic linecalling system which now controls all aspects of matches. The pair were sent off court with no immediate indication as to when they could return to start play.
Khachanov saved a match point as he levelled the deciding set at 6-6, with world number three Zverev hammering a backhand into the top tape of the net.
The German committed 44 unforced errors in the nearly three-hour defeat while Khachanov had 29 winners and 34 uforced errors.
"I had to work out this match, dig deep and try my best," Khachanov said. "It was very demanding physically and mentally.
"We've had a lot of matches and I'm happy to beat him after losing some easy ones," addd Khachanov. "Today was a tough one - I was match point down.
"I'm just happy things went on my side at the end."
Khachanov said it got tense at the end.
"When you reach the final tiebreak, you have to play your best. You can't waste time and energy with negative thoughts or you won't succeed. You never know what will happen but you have to give it a try."
Khachanov will be playing his first final of the season after semi-final defeats in Barcelona and Halle.
He took control of the opening set with a break in the fourth game and held onto his margin as he ran his lead out to 5-2.
Khachanov needed three set points a game later to prevail and in the second set Zverev held his nerve as he struggled to start his fightback, finally sweeping the last eight points of the set to level the match.