Archive of posts tagged Banks (NEC)

KK Pop: Khachanov Saves Match Points, Edges Zverev To Reach Toronto Final

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By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, August 6, 2025
Photo credit: National Bank Open by Rogers Facebook

A titanic tiebreak tug of war culminated with Karen Khachanov making the pivotal pull. 

Khachanov denied match point in the 12th game edging top-seeded Alexander Zverev 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4) in a near three-hour thriller to advance to his second career ATP Masters 1000 final in Toronto tonight.

Alexander Zverev

The 16th-ranked Russian reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final since he stunned Novak Djokovic to capture the 2018 Paris Masters Indoors.

Khachanov will face the winner of tonight’s all-American semifinal between second-seeded Taylor Fritz and fourth-seeded Ben Shelton in tomorrow’s final.

Tonight’s opening semifinal was a rematch of the 2021 Olympic gold-medal match that saw Zverev prevail 6-3, 6-1. 

Though Khachanov took the court armed with an ignominious 2-21 record vs. Top 3-ranked opponents, he showed major mettle at crunch time—and was aided by a fortunate bounce off the net that kept him in this tight test.

“Generally I think today also I didn’t feel my best on the court, didn’t play my best tennis,” Zverev said. “Also, the first set was terrible, so I kind of gave him a head start, and he’s too good to not use that.

“So, yeah, I still had match point, so it’s upsetting that I lost this match. But that’s the way it is, we move on, I go to Cincinnati and try to do better.”

Serving down match point at 5-6 in the decider, Khachanov challenged Zverev’s vaunted backhand. The German lined up his two-hander and lashed a liner that had match-ending winner written all over it. 

The return crashed into the top of the tape, hung in the air for a split second then dripped back onto Zverev’s side of the net as Khachanov breathed a sigh of relief.

That reprieve emboldened the Russian, who ripped a forehand down the line holding to force the decisive tiebreaker. 

When Zverev zapped a swinging forehand volley winner he was up 3-1 in the tiebreaker and seemingly in command. 

Khachanov had other ideas.

The 11th-seeded Khachanov tore through five points in a row coaxing a couple of backhand errors and knocking off a high forehand volley. Zverev’s two-handed backhand is one of the best in the sport, but he netted that trusty weapon to face three match points at 6-3.

On his second match point, Khachanov cranked the wide serve closing a two hour, 52-minute battle. 

It was Khachanov’s first Top 10 win of the season, his first win over Zverev since the 2019 Montreal and sends him into his first final of the year.

In the opening set, Zverev more than doubled Khachanov’s winner total—11 to 5—but Khachanov cashed in on the lone break point of the set and that made all the difference. Khachanov converted the lone break point of the set for 3-1 and consolidated for 4-1. The bearded Russian converted his third set point for a one-set lead.

On the fast Toronto court, neither man was severely stressed on serve in the second set until the final game when Khachanov played a horrific game and Zverev broke to snatch the set and forced a decider.

This match marked the eighth time in the tournament a match was decided in the final-set tiebreaker.

Top-Seeded Zverev Dethrones Defending-Champion Popyrin for 75th Semifinal in Toronto

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By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, August 4, 2025
Photo credit: Peter Power/Tennis Canada/National Bank Open Facebook

Popping with physicality, Alexander Zverev unleashed a series of kangaroo hops behind the baseline more than two hours into tonight’s match.

Showing spring in his steps and sting on his shots, Zverev dethroned defending National Bank Open champion Alexei Popyrin 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-3 to bounce into a historic semifinal. 

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The top-seeded Zverev snapped Popyrin’s nine-match winning streak at the Canadian Open creating history for the second time in the tournament. 

Zverev, who rallied to his 500th career victory on Thursday, advanced to his 75th career Tour-level semifinal, including his 21st ATP Masters 1000 final four, tonight. 

The former Olympic gold-medal champion joins reigning gold-medal champion Novak Djokovic (196) as just the second active man to reach 75 career semifinals.

The 27-year-old German, who won the 2017 Montreal title, will play either 11th-seeded Karen Khachanov or 20-year-old American Alex Michelsen for a spot in the Toronto final.

A tense opening set saw each man save a break point before drama spiked in the tiebreaker. 

In a topsy-turvy tiebreaker, Popyrin seized a 5-3 lead only to see Zverev reel off three points in a row for a set point at 6-5. 

A diagonal forehand from the Aussie drew a backhand error for 6-all. Popyrin held a set point at 7-6, but Zverev slid a serve down the T to save it. 

The top seed held a second set point at 8-7 but netted a forehand return off a second serve, erupting in a primal scream of anguish. 

Popyrin crashed a 139 mph ace down the T—his eighth ace—for a second set point at 9-8. Popyrin showed his guts attacking behind a forehand down the line then tapped a half volley that kissed the top of the tape and dribbled over to end a tight first set. 

Popyrin raised both hands in apology, taking a one set lead after 1 hour, 11 minutes of play.

Resetting, Zverev held to start the second set then gained the first break of the night on a series of miscues from the Aussie. Popyrin sailed a forehand and double faulted deep ceding the break and a 2-0 second-set lead. 

Zverev stamped his second love hold of the match extending his advantage to 3-0. 

Seemingly in control of the set at 4-2, Zverev’s forehand failed him in the seventh game. The German decelerated slapping a forehand into the net—his third forehand error of the game—gifting the champion the love break as Popyrin crept closer at 3-4. 

Stepping into the court and putting his body weight behind the ball, Zverev lashed a forehand down the line for triple set point in the 10th game. Though Popyrin saved the first set point, he tried the serve-and-volley and pushed a makeable forehand volley wide as Zverev snatched the second set with his second break after one hour, 58 minutes.

An increasingly weary-looking Popyrin opened the court with a wide serve but pushed his favored forehand wide to face a break point. Popyrin sailed a backhand wide ending a sloppy game to gift Zverev the break and a 2-0 lead in the final set. 

A pumped-up Zverev pulled off the shot of the match—a superb full-stretch flying forehand volley winner to help him hold at 15 for a 3-0 lead.

Serving with command in the final set, Zverev served 70 percent and won 15 of 15 first-serve points. Impressive, especially considering one idiot in the crowd was screaming in distraction as the German’s ball toss went up in the final game. The disruptor elicited a double-fault, but credit Toronto security for finding the unruly fan and escorting him out of the stadium.

Zverev closed in two hours, 42 minutes pausing to turn and wave bye bye to the second of the stadium where the disruptor was sitting.

Evans Blasts “Pathetic” Davidovich Fokina Complaint

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By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, August 1, 2025
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Alejandro Davidovich Fokina slammed ATP scheduling in Toronto.

Dan Evans delivered a stinging wake-up call to the Spaniard in response.

On his Instagram Stories, Evans called out Davidovich Fokina’s “pathetic” griping.

Reposting the Spaniard’s criticism, Evans posted “Wake up and play. The world wakes up and works 9-5 even 8-6. Pathetic.”

The Briton’s blunt response came after Davidovich Fokina, who suffered a gut-wrenching loss to Alex de Minaur in last week’s Washington, DC final, ripped the ATP scheduling his National Bank Open match for 11 a.m.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

“Every match starts at 12:30 p.m., except ours, which has been scheduled for 11 a.m.,” Davidovich Fokina wrote on Instagram Stories. “We’re staying one hour away from the club, which means that we have to wake up extremely early to arrive in good conditions. We asked for a change, but the answer was that everything was already sold: tickets, TV rights, etc. Once again, it’s clear that the players are not taken into consideration. The ATP always promises they’ll fix things, but nothing ever changes.”

Zverev: Trying to Convince Toni Nadal to Join My Coaching Team

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By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, July 27, 2025
Photo credit: Hannah Peters/Getty

Alexander Zverev tuned up for the North American summer hard-court season training with coach Toni Nadal at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca.

Olympic gold-medal champion Zverev said he’d like to work with Toni Nadal on a more regular basis, but a prospective partnership depends on Uncle Toni’s schedule.

Speaking to the media in Toronto where he is top seed at this week’s National Bank Open, Zverev said “I’m trying to convince” Toni Nadal to join his coaching team.

“I mean, he spent quite a lot of time with me actually as well, so I’m very thankful for that,” Zverev told the media in Toronto. “I mean, the time in Mallorca was amazing. I spent about 10 days there, and worked really hard and enjoyed it as well. I think Toni enjoyed it probably as well.

“I’m trying to convince him (smiling) to do more weeks with me, and we’ll see how it goes, but he’s a very busy man. Also he has a lot of dates that he already committed to this year, so I’m not sure how much of him you’ll see this year, because he gave his word to a lot of events and a lot of speeches already. But we’re talking about what a potential partnership could look like, for sure, and, yeah, I can give you an update probably in a few weeks time when we know more. But, yeah, I enjoyed my time there, that’s for sure.”

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In addition to working with Toni Nadal, Zverev said he gained “great insight” from Rafael Nadal on his game. King of Clay Rafa Nadal shared with Zverev what it was like for him to face the German. 

“Yeah, they definitely spent a lot of hours talking to me, and they gave me some great insight. Rafa gave me some great insight of what it actually is like to play against me, because he saw me as a player, he saw me now as a spectator as well,” Zverev said. “It was very helpful, and again, we spent hours and hours talking, sometimes until past midnight in some dinners and stuff like that. So it was great to be there.”

Earlier this month, Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech completed a five-set win over Zverev in the Wimbledon first round. Rinderknech won 44 of 55 trips to net and denied all nine break points he faced.

Afterward, Zverev said the prestigious Centre Court lawn felt like a deep hole he couldn’t escape.

Six months after his surge to the Australian Open final, Zverev suffered his second career Wimbledon first-round exit and opened up on the malaise he’s feeling.

“I would say more mental, probably. It’s funny, I feel very alone out there at times,” Zverev said. “I struggle mentally. I’ve been saying that since after the Australian Open. Yeah, just don’t know. I’m trying to find ways, trying to find ways to kind of get out of this hole. I keep kind of finding myself back in it in a way.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I feel, generally speaking, quite alone in life at the moment, which is a feeling that is not very nice.”

In his parting presser at SW19, Zverev said it’s possible he could hire a new coach and conceded he’s out of answers on court.

“Possibly,” Zverev said when asked about a new coach. “As I said, yeah, it’s a different feeling right now for me. I can’t speak for the moment. But I think I’ll have answers by Canada.” 

While Zverev has worked with high-profile coaches in the past—including David Ferrer, who helped guide him to the US Open final and former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has been exceptionally successful coaching Carlos Alcaraz—he continues to return to the familiarity of his father, Alexander Zverev, Sr., as coach.

Toni Nadal, known as a savvy and tough taskmaster, spent some time working with Felix Auger-Aliassime after stepping down as Rafa Nadal’s official coach. Zverev said his goal is to maximize his game to try to win Grand Slams.

“I mean, I think at this stage for me it’s about winning, and trying to maximize what I have, and
trying to maximize what I can become,” Zverev said. “Again, I think my team, but also Toni are exceptional in that, in maximizing what a player has. Of course, he was with Rafa before, which I’m never going to compare myself to Rafa, but if he can maximize what I have, and he can maximize the potential that I have, I’m sure that I can have a lot more success in my career.”