ATP Montreal: Zverev is eliminated against Khachanov
Alexander Zverev did not make it to the semi-finals at the ATP Masters tournament in Montreal. The German number one lost to the 23-year-old Russian Karen Khachanov 3-6, 3-6.
by Robert M. Frank
last edit: Aug 09, 2019, 10:15 pm
Alexander Zverev (ATP 7) was at the end of the quarter-finals of the ATP hard court tournament in Canada, which was worth around 6.3 million US dollars. The 22-year-old from Hamburg drew 3: 6, 3: 6 against Karen Khachanov (ATP 8).
The game, which started a few minutes later than planned after a short delay due to rain, started very badly for Zverev. After two double mistakes, the eleven-time ATP tournament winner promptly made his first serve game on the Court Centrale. Zverev, who made three more double mistakes in the first set, did not manage to play his own game, especially with his own service. It was different with the 23-year-old Russian, who at the end of the sentence Zverev could break again for 6: 3.
In the second round, Zverev then significantly increased his hit rate on the first serve of 59 percent from the first set (to 79 percent). However, on the other side, the very variable Khachanov did not allow a break until the end of Zverev. The Zverev, who was very passive in the first set and often behind the baseline, became significantly more aggressive and tried to attack the network more often. However, the reigning world champion always had setbacks due to network and double errors. Another loss of service to the meantime 2: 4 was the result.
Even a short break in the rain did not bring Zverev back into the match. After a playing time of 74 minutes including eight double mistakes from Zverev, the set went to Khachanov 6: 3.
Khachanov meets Daniil Medvedev (ATP 9) in the semifinals, who surprisingly won in 6: 3, 6: 1 against Dominic Thiem (ATP 4) in just 56 minutes. The second semi-final will take place on Saturday night in the two four-final games Gael Monfils (ATP 20) against Roberto Bautista Agut (ATP 13) and Rafael Nadal (ATP 2) against Fabio Fognini (ATP 11).