Zverev defeats defending champion Popyrin to advance to National Bank Open semifinals

By Canadian Press on August 4, 2025.

TORONTO — Alexander Zverev has a semifinal spot at the National Bank Open.

And he bested last year’s winner in the process.

The top seed at the Canadian men’s tennis championship rallied to defeat No. 18 Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-3 on Monday evening at Sobeys Stadium.

Currently third in the ATP Tour’s rankings, the German will take on either No. 11 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia or No. 26 Alex Michelsen of the United States on Wednesday.

Khachanov and Michelsen played the late quarterfinal on the campus of York University in hazy northwest Toronto.

Tuesday’s schedule at the NBO features a pair of American favourites.

Second-seed Taylor Fritz will take on No. 6 Andrey Rublev of Russia in the quarters, while No. 4 Ben Shelton is slated to meet No. 9 Alex de Minaur of Australia. Both semifinals go Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s title match.

Popyrin took a knife-edged first set in a tiebreak when his gentle backhand shot after a long rally grazed the top of the net and dropped for the winning point — much to the delight of his fans, including one with an inflatable yellow kangaroo.

Zverev, meanwhile, responded by immediately firing a ball completely out of Sobeys Stadium in frustration.

Looking for his 25th tournament victory and eighth ATP 1000 Masters triumph, he responded by going up 2-0 in the second set.

Popyrin grabbed a break of his own before holding serve at 4-4. Zverev, who won the Canadian title in Montreal eight years ago when he defeated childhood idol Roger Federer, took a 5-4 lead and then again broke his opponent to even the match.

Ousted at the quarterfinal stage of last year’s tournament, Zverev got another break to go up 2-0 in the third set before serving out the match.

The 28-year-old, who lost to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final at this year’s Australian Open and made the French Open quarters, improved to 4-0 all-time against Popyrin, including a third-round victory at the Paris Olympics.

Zverev has two tournament wins on clay this year, and is the highest-ranked player competing in a Toronto field lacking some significant star power after Sinner, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, No. 5 Jack Draper and No. 6 Novak Djokovic all skipped the US$9.19-million hardcourt event.

The 25-year-old Popyrin — ranked No. 26 in the world — beat Rublev some 12 months ago in Montreal to claim his third tournament win, but saw a nine-match winning run in Canada come to an end Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2025.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press