Zverev Advances to Semifinals at the National Bank Open
The tennis player Alexander Zverev, seeded number one, made a comeback to defeat Alexei Popyrin in the National Bank Open tournament, securing his place in the semifinals.
Zverev, champion of the tournament in 2017, defeated Popyrin with scores of 6-7 (8), 6-4 and 6-3 in an exciting match that took place on Monday.
The German, currently ranked number 3, will face Karen Khachanov in the semifinals, who defeated Alex Michelsen.
This victory marks Zverev’s 75th semifinal in the ATP circuit, seeking his 25th title and the eighth in a Masters 1000 tournament.
The remaining quarterfinals will be played on Tuesday, with Taylor Fritz facing Andrey Rublev, and Ben Shelton against Alex De Minaur. The semifinals will take place on Wednesday, prior to the final on Thursday.
Popyrin took the first set after a decisive point at the net, but Zverev reacted quickly, regaining control of the game.
Zverev, who won the Canadian title eight years ago, managed to break his opponent’s serve to tie the match.
In the third set, Zverev got another service break to secure the victory.
The 28-year-old tennis player, who lost in the final of this year’s Australian Open against Jannik Sinner and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, improved his record to 4-0 against Popyrin.
Zverev, with two clay court victories this year, is the highest-ranked player competing in Toronto, a tournament that does not have the presence of some important figures in tennis.
Popyrin, 25 years old and ranked 26th, saw his streak of nine consecutive victories in Canada interrupted.
