Khachanov topples Zverev to book ATP Toronto title clash with Shelton

AFP | Torento

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Karen Khachanov rallied to defeat top seed Alexander Zverev and book an ATP Toronto Masters title clash with Ben Shelton, who beat second seeded Taylor Fritz on Wednesday.

Khachanov fought back from 3-1 down in the final-set tiebreaker to beat Zverev 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4).

Shelton, seeded fourth, hammered Fritz 6-4, 6-3 in the first All-American Masters 1000 semifinal in 15 years to book the fifth, and most important, ATP final of his career.

Russia’s Khachanov, seeded 11th, had lost two previous semi-finals in Canada. But he dug deep to advance, saving a match point as he levelled the deciding set at 6-6, with world number three Zverevham - mering a backh and in to the top tape of the net.

The German committed 44 unforced errors in the nearly three-hour defeat while Khachanov had 29 winners and 34 uforced errors. “I had to work out this match, dig deep and try my best,” Khachanov said. “It was very demanding physically and mentally.

“We’ve had a lot of matches and I’m happy to beat him after losing some easy ones,” addd Khachanov, who fell to Zverev in the Tokyo Olympic singles final. “Today was a tough one - I was match point down.

“I’m just happy things went on my side at the end.”

Khachanov said it got tense at the end.

“When you reach the final tiebreak, you have to play your best. You can’t waste time and energy with negative thoughts or you won’t succeed. You never know what will happen but you have to give it a try.”

Khachanov will be playing his first final of the season after semi-final defeats in Barcelona and Halle.

Shelton and Fritz had to wait out a brief delay when a problem with the electronic line calling system emerged as they took the court.