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.
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.”
Dream run continues ⭐
Karen Khachanov Alex Zverev 6-3 4-6 7-6 to reach his second Masters 1000 Final 🔥#NBO25 pic.twitter.com/vDBU7KfG0x
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 7, 2025
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.
