Tokyo Olympics final rematch in Toronto.
After surviving an absolute thriller against defending champ Popyrin in the quarterfinal stage, top seed Alexander Zverev runs into a familiar foe in the final four. It will be World No. 16 Karen Khachanov who awaits the German mainstay in the National Bank Open 2025 semifinal. The two players have shared the stage on some massive occasions – including the gold medal match at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Follow BetMGM to know more about the betting odds for this match-up, as well as all other Canadian Open contests.
Ranked No. 3 in the world, Alexander Zverev seems to be the biggest threat to the Sinner-Alcaraz dominance. Despite self-admittedly playing a poor brand of tennis this year, the 28-year-old has reached a Grand Slam final, won a tour-level title, and entered multiple semifinals and quarterfinals. Zverev’s wins in Toronto this year have come against Walton, Arnaldi, Cerundolo and Popyrin. He has a 39-14 record in 2025, and the BMW Open trophy in Munich to show for it.
When Karen Khachanov dreamt of winning the Olympic gold medal, it was Zverev who denied him the ultimate glory. The Russian has a 9-6 hard court record this year, which includes a success rate of 82% on service games. Seeded 11th at the Canadian Open this week, seldom has Khachanov been tested so far. He has dropped just one set across four matches, and has been winning over 85% points on the back of his first serve.
Zverev leads the head-to-head against Khachanov by 5-2 so far.
The duo shares an eventful rivalry, which originated back in 2016. Barring the 2018 Roland Garros pre-quarterfinal, every single Zverev-Khachanov battle has been staged on hard courts. Interestingly, the Russian’s last win over his German counterpart came six years ago at this very tournament.
| Event | Round | Winner | Score |
| 2024 Cincinnati | Round of 32 | Alexander Zverev | 6-3 6-2 |
| 2024 Miami | Round of 16 | Alexander Zverev | 6-1 6-4 |
| 2021 Tokyo Olympics | Final | Alexander Zverev | 6-3 6-1 |
| 2019 Montreal | Quarterfinal | Karen Khachanov | 6-3 6-3 |
| 2018 Paris Bercy | Quarterfinal | Karen Khachanov | 6-1 6-2 |
| 2018 Roland Garros | Round of 16 | Alexander Zverev | 4-6 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3 6-3 |
| 2016 St. Petersburg | Round of 32 | Alexander Zverev | 7-6(3) 6-4 |
| Alexander Zverev | Category | Karen Khachanov |
| 0 | Grand Slams | 0 |
| 24 | ATP Singles Titles | 7 |
| 2 | ATP Doubles Titles | 1 |
| 7 | Masters-1000 Titles | 1 |
| Gold (Tokyo 2020) | Olympics Best Performance | Silver (Tokyo 2020) |
| No. 3 | Current World Ranking | No. 16 |
The one aspect that stands out in both these players, is the fact that they can back up their impeccable serves with a strong baseline game. Expect both players to adopt a deep position in rallies, in order to deal with the extra venom and kick from the surface. There could be plenty of changes in direction – owing to the fact that Zverev has a strong backhand and Khachanov’s forehand is among the best on tour. However, there is a sense that whatever the Russian does, the top seed does slightly better.
Prediction: Alexander Zverev in three sets.
Zverev is the firm pre-match favourite in this semifinal encounter against underdog Khachanov. The Russian has been given partially favourable odds to win a set. However, it is the German who stands a strong 73% chance of progressing, according to the money line. Here are the best bets for the Canadian Open SF (as per BetMGM):
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(Image Credits: Dan Hamilton, Imagn Images)
