Alexander Zverev ended a dream week for 18-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov with a 6-4, 7-5 victory in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup on Saturday night.
The fourth-seeded Zverev, seeking a second tournament title in as many weeks, advanced to the final on Sunday against second-seeded Roger Federer, a 6-3, 7-6(5) winner over unseeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands. Federer holds a 2-1 edge in career meetings with the German, including a victory on grass in June.
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Zverev stretched his match winning run to nine.
Shapovalov, who was playing Challenger-level tournaments only two weeks ago, became the youngest player to reach a Masters 1000 Series tournament with a winning run this week that included knocking off top seed Rafael Nadal and 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.
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It will raise his world ranking from 143rd to about 66th. He earned US$220,760 – more than doubling his career prize money.
Flag-waving fans in the packed grandstands at Uniprix Stadium were hoping for more magic in the battle of youngsters against the 20-year-old Zverev. But the German was too sharp, winning 81 per cent of the points off his serve compared to 64 per cent for Shapovalov.
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