The "masters" level: how Khachanov reached the finals of the super tournament in Toronto

Karen Khachanov, a 29-year-old Russian, caused a sensation at the Toronto Masters by knocking out first-seeded Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. In a nervous match that lasted almost three hours, our tennis player first won back a matchball from his opponent, and then, with the score 1:3, he took five points in a row in a tiebreak. For Khachanov, this is only the third career victory over a top-3 competitor, and at the ATP Masters 1000 level, Karen reached the title match for only the second time and for the first time in seven years. The current success is a logical continuation of the rise in the game of the native of Moscow, which began after Roland Garros. Karen's opponent in the final will be American Ben Shelton, the seventh racket of the world.

It was an intense match both mentally and physically

Earlier, Karen lost three consecutive matches to Zverev, managing to take only 14 games in them. The last time a Russian defeated Alexander was in 2019. The German tennis player was considered a confident favorite of the semifinals. Nevertheless, the first game was dictated by Khachanov. The Russian played well on the back line, made an early break and put the squeeze on his opponent from the third set point. In the second set, the opponents confidently took their games, but in the end, Zverev managed to win someone else's serve to zero and even the score. The meeting turned into the third game, which gave the audience an adrenaline-fueled ending.

With the score 6:5, Alexander got a matchball in favor of the German on Khachanov's serve. Karen failed to serve the first ball, and Zverev decided to attack on the second serve. Fortunately for the Russian, the backhand flew into the net, and then our athlete took three draws in a row. But Khachanov's exploits did not end there. At the beginning of the tie-break, Zverev had the initiative, chased his opponent around the court and deservedly led the score when the game suddenly turned around. Karen won five goals in a row and made a mistake only on his first match ball with a score of 6:3. However, Alexander's joy was short—lived - our athlete scored a victory in the next draw.

"I had to work hard, give my all and raise my level," Khachanov commented on his triumph in an on—court interview. — It was an intense match both mentally and physically. I am glad that I was able to win after several easy defeats from Alexander in recent years. The match was very difficult. The opponent got a matchball, and if the ball had gone over the rope, we wouldn't be talking right now. I'm glad that this didn't happen and everything worked out in my favor. When you get to the decisive tie-break, you realize that these are the last draws you will play in the match, and you need to focus all your efforts on the best game. If you waste your energy on negativity, you won't succeed. So you try to forget all the mistakes and show your best.

After the match, many famous tennis players congratulated Karen on their social networks, and American tennis player and former world number eight John Isner went even further.

— Can we return their flag to the Russian tennis players? It looks ridiculous now," Isner wrote.

To whom Canada: what awaits our tennis players in Montreal and Toronto

Rublev will have to defend last year's final, and Schneider will defend the semifinals.

An unpredictable ending

A successful game after Roland Garros provided Khachanov with an impressive breakthrough in the live rating. He has already risen by 10 positions and now occupies the 12th place. And if he wins the Toronto finals, he will break into the top ten, ahead of Andrei Rublev, among others, and become the first racket of Russia. Let me remind you that Karen previously reached the semifinals in Halle and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Of course, there are no men's tennis leaders at the Canadian Masters — Yannick Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, but this does not make Khachanov's success any less significant. Especially against the background of the long-term crisis in which other Russian leaders, Andrei Rublev and Daniil Medvedev, are located.

— Now Karen is ready to win psychologically in the endings of draws and matches, — the famous former Russian tennis player Nikolay Davydenko explained Khachanov's progress on BB Tennis. — Sometimes I see him playing great, taking down an opponent, and at some point he starts to doubt himself, twitching. He doesn't believe he can win the match. How is it? He plays head and shoulders higher and starts to give up. An unforced error, and he starts to leave... there used to be a lot of this, now this moment is starting to improve.

The second semi—final, which was an American derby, also ended in an unusual way - 22-year-old Ben Shelton upset the second racket of the tournament, Taylor Fritz, in two sets. For one of the most progressive players on the tour, this will be the first Masters final of his career — he has never reached the quarterfinals at this level before. Although two years ago, Ben became a star by holding the semi-final of the US Open against Novak Djokovic. Shelton rarely takes titles — he has only two trophies to his credit and none this season. But that didn't stop the American from beating Khachanov in the third round of Indian Wells this year. (6:3, 7:5). In general, we are waiting for a very interesting and unpredictable ending.