Tennis
2025-08-04 - Alexander Zverev vs Alexei Popyrin
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis: ATP Toronto Quarter Final
Monday 4th August 2025 - Scheduled 11am
4pm (British Time)
Preview
The serve is a big weapon for Alexei Popyrin and he has found plenty of consistency from out of this shot on the hard courts. In recent years he has averaged winning around 66% of the points played behind the serve on a regular basis, but the Australian had put some strong results on the board in 2024 because he had shown plenty of improvement on the return of serve.
However, that has not been the case this season with Popyrin breaking in just 11% of return games played and that is a massive reason he has gone from winning twenty-one hard court matches last season compared with just two wins from ten hard court matches prior to the Canadian Masters winning.
In just a few days, Alexei Popyrin has won more matches on the surface than he has for the entirety of the season and it will give him confidence with the US Open fast approaching.
He has fought back to beat Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune in consecutive Rounds and there will be encouragement from the amount of Break Points that have been created in the deserved wins.
Alexei Popyrin is also the defending Champion in Canada, albeit in a tournament that was played in Montreal rather than Toronto, and that has clearly offered him some belief that has taken him through to the Quarter Final.
He has yet to earn a win over Alexander Zverev on the Tour, although the two hard court losses were several years ago when Alexei Popyrin was still building as a professional player. The last match was on clay at the Paris Olympics last year and that is a surface on which Alexander Zverev would be considered a significant favourite.
Even then, Alexander Zverev has been putting together some very solid hard court numbers over the last two seasons and he is a genuine threat to have a deep run at the US Open. The serve is a big weapon, but the top Seed here in Canada has been much more consistent when it comes to the return and that should give him the edge over Alexei Popyrin.
The handicap line is a tough one with Alexander Zverev potentially needing at least two more breaks of serve compared with Alexei Popyrin, but the former has been playing well all year on the hard courts and that should give him the advantage. There will be times when Popyrin is pretty dominant on the serve, but Alexander Zverev can keep plenty of scoreboard pressure on him and that should see him find a way to win and cover.
Prediction
Lay the games with the higher Ranked player and the top Seed at the Canadian Masters in this big Quarter Final match.
The Pick :
Alexander Zverev 2-0 Alexei Popyrin
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll back Alexander Zverev - 3.5 Games at 2.09 with SportBet.One
