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Russia’s Khachanov through to semifinals of 2025 ATP Toronto tournament

The Russian is now set to play in the semifinals round of the tournament against the tournament’s top-seed, Alexander Zverev of Germany

OTTAWA, August 5. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Karen Khachanov made his way up to the semifinals round of the 2025 ATP Toronto Tournament.

In a match that lasted for an hour and 45 minutes, the 11th-seed Khachanov, who is playing under a neutral status at the tournament, defeated the 26th-seeded Alex Michelsen from the United States in straight sets 6-4; 7-6 (7-3).

"Very close, very competitive match," the tournament’s official press office quoted Khachanov as saying after the match. "I had some advantages, then all of a sudden I was down and I was facing a set point on my serve. I served well, two serves."

"Those are the moments, always in a tennis match, you try to overcome... How you come out mentally from this situation is very important, so I'm really happy and proud that I was able to close it out in the second set at the end," he continued.

The Russian is now set to play in the semifinals round of the tournament against the tournament’s top-seed, Alexander Zverev of Germany.

Khachanov, 29, is currently ranked 20th in the ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals) Rankings, and has seven career ATP titles. His best performance in the Grand Slam series was when he reached the semifinal rounds at the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Australian Open.

The Russian player also took home the silver medal in men’s singles at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. He also won the 2021 Davis Cup as part of the Russian national team.

Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC's recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.

On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

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