Khachanov rises like Phoenix, pips Zverev

TORONTO: 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.

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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 semifinals in Canada. But he dug deep to advance, saving a match point as he levelled the deciding set at 6-6, with world No.3 Zverev hammering a backhand into 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.