They are down to the quarter-finals at the National Bank Open in Toronto – Andy Schooler previews the action.
Tennis betting tips: National Bank Open
1pt Alex Zverev to beat Alexei Popyrin 2-0 at 10/11 (Sky Bet, bet365)
0.5pt Alex Michelsen to beat Karen Khachanov at 9/5 (General)
Alex Zverev v Alexei Popyrin (Monday, 2359 BST)
Popyrin seems to love Canada.
He won in Montreal last season and so far in his title defence, he’s beaten seeds Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune here in Toronto.
However, the Australian may not be going any further.
Conditions here also suit Zverev and he’s a player Popyrin hasn’t been able to figure out in the past.
This will be their fourth meeting and the German is yet to lose a set. In fact, he’s faced just one break point in those matches.
With Zverev winning a massive 91% of points behind his first serve and 71% behind his second in that series, Popyrin has managed to win just 17% of the points played on the top seed’s serve. Those are eye-watering stats and while he may have rediscovered his form this week, it will take a serious turnaround from those previous encounters for the upset to be landed.
You can get 6/4 about Zverev going unbroken through this match at bet365.
However, I’ll take the straight-sets bet at just shy of even money.
Alex Michelsen v Karen Khachanov (after Zverev match)
If there’s going to be an upset in these quarter-finals, Michelsen may be the one to provide it.
He dominated the Russian when they met at this year’s Australian Open, winning in three straight sets and losing serve only once. The Har-Tru surface here is playing similarly quick.
The American has impressed to defeat Lorenzo Musetti and Learner Tien in the last two rounds and should come in here with plenty of confidence.
That said, I’m not totally convinced. Maybe that’s because several underdogs I have put up this week have narrowly lost.
Either way, Khachanov’s tournament numbers have been better and after struggling a little against Emilio Nava, the Russian performed well to take down Casper Ruud in straight sets last time out.
I’ll back the underdog but only to small stakes.
Posted at 0925 BST on 04/08/25
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