Alexander Zverev entered the 2018 Canada Masters in Toronto as the defending champion and the 2nd seed behind Rafael Nadal. The German ousted Daniil Medvedev in the third round and faced another young gun, Stefanos Tsitsipas, in the quarter-final.
Zverev built a massive 6-3, 5-2 advantage and earned two match points, only to experience a tough 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 loss in two hours and 28 minutes! Tsitsipas came to Toronto following the Washington semi-final and defeated Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic en route to his first Masters 1000 quarter-final.The Greek made a name for himself and performed an incredible comeback versus the German to notch his third top-10 victory in a row and book a place in the semi-final.
Alexander defeated Stefanos in Washington and had a massive opportunity to repeat that in Toronto and remain on the title course. Alongside a 6-3, 5-2 lead and two match points, Zverev had a break advantage in the decider and three break points at 4-4, all in vain!
Alexander won three more points and had numerous chances on the return, earning five breaks but failing to save any of the four opportunities given to Stefanos. Nothing could separate them in the shortest range up to four strokes.
Zverev had a slight edge in the more extended ones but nothing significant.
Stefanos Tsitsipas saved two match points against Alexander Zverev in Toronto 2018.
With this win, Tsitsipas became the youngest player since Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo 2006 with three top-10 victories, earning enough points to crack the top-20.
Playing for his first Masters 1000 semi-final, Stefanos held at love in the encounter’s first game and grabbed a break in the next one when his rival hit a double fault. Alexander broke back at 15 in the third game and landed a forehand winner at 2-2 to forge the advantage.
Playing at a high level, Zverev clinched the set with a break in game nine, taking six of the previous seven games to grab the opener in 32 minutes.Alexander broke at 2-1 in set number two and held with a service winner in game seven to build a 6-3, 5-2 advantage in under an hour!
Serving for the victory in game nine, Zverev sprayed a forehand mistake to suffer a break and keep his rival in contention. The German squandered two match points at 7-6 and 9-8 in the tie break, and the Greek converted the fifth set point when Zverev landed a backhand wide in the 24th point!
Staying composed in the decider, Alexander fired a backhand winner at 2-2 to grab a break. He kept it only for one game, as Tsitsipas broke back at love a few minutes later to extend the drama. The Greek played bold tennis at 4-4 to defend three break chances and delivered a break in the next one after Zverev’s double fault to move into the semi-final.
