Zverev battles past Popyrin to reach 75th ATP semi-tinal in Toronto

TORONTO: Alexander Zverev rallied from a set down to defeat defending champion Alexei Popyrin 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-3 on Monday and advance to the semi-finals of the Canadian Open in Toronto.

The top seed missed two set points in a tightly contested first set but bounced back strongly, racing to early 3-0 leads in both the second and third sets to seal the win in two hours and 42 minutes.

With the victory, Zverev improved his perfect record against Popyrin to 4-0 and joined Novak Djokovic as the only active ATP players to have reached 75 career semi-finals.

“I had to tell myself, even though I lost the first set, I thought we were both playing actually quite well,” said Zverev, who previously won the Canadian Open in 2017. “I had to find a return position in the beginning because he’s a very big server. I did that in the second and third set. Honestly, I can’t complain about much.”

Zverev will now look to continue his impressive form as he aims for a second title in Toronto.