Tennis
The life tournament of the Russian tennis player! Rewrote the story and went to the final
Karen closed the match at the Tai Brake and breaks into the top 10.
Karen Khachanov continues a brilliant performance at the Masters series tournament in Toronto. The Russian tennis player, occupying 16th place in the world ranking, designed one of the most striking victories in his career, making his way to the final of prestigious Canadian competitions. In the semifinals, he met with the strongest rival – the third racket of the planet Alexander Zverev. The duel turned out to be dramatic, with emotional changes and a real battle of characters.
Khachanov’s path to the semifinal
Karen confidently began the tournament, in the starting match, confidently dealing with Argentinean Juan Pablo Filovich – 6: 4, 6: 2. In the third round, the Russians had to make more efforts: he lost the first batch of Emilio, but then gathered and won – 6: 7 (6: 8), 6: 4, 6: 1.
In the 1/8 finals, Karen met with Casper Roud-the 13th racket of the world, and again demonstrated mature tennis-6: 4, 7: 5. In the quarter -finals, he was opposed by the young American Alex Michelsen. Despite serious competition, Khachanov was calm and accurate at key points – 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 3), having designed the third in his career access to the Masters semifinals.
Personal meetings and words before the match
Prior to this match, Alexander Zverev led in a personal confrontation with a score of 5-2, including four victories in Hard. However, Khachanov twice prevailed in the tournaments of the Master series: in Paris (2018) and Montreal (2019). The last two meetings remained for Zverev-in Miami and Cincinnati-2023.
Before the semifinals, Karen noted that the tournament is not easy.
– Before the start of the tournament, I was even a little indignant about balls and conditions. But the most important thing is to be able to adapt. Now I am satisfied with my game and how I cope with difficulties, ”Khachanov said in an interview with BB Tennis.
The confident beginning of the Russian
From the very start, Karen showed a high concentration and excellent quality of the game. Already in the fourth game, he made the first and only Break in the party, taking advantage of Zverev’s instability on the back line. At the same time, the Russian was flawlessly on the presentation, regularly earning ais and not giving the opponent even a hint of Break Punts.
Zverev, in turn, relied on his first serving, but inferior in the draws. Despite the German attempt to add in the end, Khachanov brought the set to a logical conclusion – 6: 3, implementing Setball on the third attempt after a tense shootout.
The second set is a German answer
In the second batch, the initiative gradually passed to Zverev. The German became more stable, especially in the draws from the back line. There was an equal struggle to the very end, and for a long time there was not a single Break Point. However, with a score of 5: 4 in his favor, Alexander took advantage of the first opportunity and took Khachanov’s filing, completing the set – 6: 4.
Khachanov actively acted, continued to attack, but began to make mistakes more often. Zverev, on the other hand, withstood a dense rhythm and minimized the amount of marriage, which allowed him to equalize the parties.
Khachanov finished a formidable opponent
The final set has become a real test for endurance and psychological resistance to both tennis players. None of them managed to take someone else’s serving, and it came to a tie-break. It began with Zverev’s mistakes, after which Karen took possession of the initiative. In the most important moments, the Russian played cold-blooded and decisively: woking blows, an accurate game at the grid and excerpt in long draws provided him with a victory in a tie-break-7: 4. The final account of the match is 6: 3, 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 4).
After the match, Karen admitted how emotionally the duel turned out to be emotionally complicated.
– I made every effort and even did more than I could. The match was very difficult and tense. I am glad that he was able to win after several failures in the last meetings with this opponent. Today I was on the verge of defeat. I lost on the matchball, and if the ball had not jumped through the net after his blow, we would not discuss the final, the ATR press service quoted Khachanov.
The chance to return to the top 10 and become the first racket of Russia
The victory over Zverev will allow Khachanov to rise to 12th place in the ATP rating. If successful in the final, he will gain 3540 points, will enter the TOP-10 for the first time since 2023 and will become the first racket of Russia, having shifted Andrei Rublev.
Karen also set a historical achievement-he updated the record for the most long period between the two finals of the Masters since the introduction of the format in 1990: 6 years and 276 days passed between the victory in Paris 2018 and the current exit to the Toronto final.
In a decisive match, Khachanov will play with 22-year-old American Ben Shelton-the seventh racket of the world. This will be the second full -time meeting between them. The Russian has a chance not only to win the second ATP-1000 tournament in his career, but also to return to the elite of world tennis.
Source: Sportbox
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