Top seed Alexander Zverev ended Alexei Popyrin's title defence at the Canadian Open with a 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-3 victory
TORONTO — Top seed Alexander Zverev ended Alexei Popyrin's title defence at the Canadian Open with a 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-3 victory and sailed into the semifinals.
Now into his 75th tour-level semi-final, Zverev joins Novak Djokovic (196) among the only two active men to reach that mark. By advancing to his 21st semi-final at the Masters 1000s, his first since last year's Rolex Paris Masters, Zverev moved ahead of Roddick for seventh-most in series history (since 1990), according to ATP.
Both men had minibreak leads and set points, but a generous netcord handed the opening frame to Popyrin. Zverev secured the first break of the match on his way to a 3-0 lead in the second and led the rest of the way. The defending champion did break back in the second but was broken to send the match to a decider, where Zverev again took a 3-0 lead which he did not relinquish.
Zverev won 82 per cent of his first-serve points and claimed 16 of his last 17 points on serve. He closed out the match in style with a drop-volley winner and now awaits Karen Khachanov or Alex Michelsen in the semifinal.
Elsewhere, Karen Khachanov battled back in the second set and took down Alex Michelsen 6-4, 7-6 to reach the semifinals.
Michelsen came out swinging, breaking for a quick 2-0 lead, but it was short-lived. Khachanov won four games in a row to turn the break deficit into a break lead, which he hung on to take the opening set.
The American had a few chances to extend the match, with a love-40 opening at 3-2 and two set points on Khachanov's serve at 5-4, but he could not secure another break. Khachanov won the last five points of the breaker to advance.