TORONTO (AP) — Top-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany beat Matteo Arnaldi of Italy 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday night in the third round of the National Bank Open to reach 500 match victories.
The 28-year-old Zverev — the 2017 champion — is the first ATP Tour player born in 1990 or later to win 500 matches. He won on clay in Munich in April for his 24th tour title.
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Matteo Arnaldi, of Italy, hits a backhand return to Alexander Zverev, of Germany, during their men's match at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Alexander Zverev, of Germany, hits a backhand return to Matteo Arnaldi, of Italy, during their men's match at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Thursday July 31, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Alexander Zverev, of Germany, hits a backhand return to Matteo Arnaldi, of Italy, during their men's match at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Lorenzo Musetti, of Italy, serves against Alex Michelsen, of the United, States, during a match at the National Bank Open men’s tennis tournament, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Lorenzo Musetti, of Italy, returns the ball against Alex Michelsen, of the United States, during a match at the National Bank Open men’s tennis tournament, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Alex Michelsen, of the United States, serves the ball against Lorenzo Musetti, of Italy, during a match at the National Bank Open men’s tennis tournament, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Alex Michelsen, of the United States, serves the ball against Lorenzo Musetti, of Italy, during a match at the National Bank Open men’s tennis tournament, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Alex Michelsen, of the United States, returns the ball against Lorenzo Musetti, of Italy, during a match at the National Bank Open men’s tennis tournament, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
“I think I started playing better from the baseline. The longer the match went on, I started to find my rhythm a bit,” Zverev said. “It was actually my backhand that was feeling a bit off in the beginning, which is strange. Doesn’t happen very often. But after I found that shot, I was comfortable and I was happy about the level.”
Zverev, ranked third in the world, ended up the top seed with top-ranked Jannik Sinner — the 2023 winner — and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz skipping the hard-court event that still has a week left. No. 5 Jack Draper and No. 6 Novak Djokovic also are absent.
Zverev advanced to face No. 14 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over countryman Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Earlier, Alex Michelsen of the United States upset third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Michelsen will face fellow American Learner Tien, a 7-6 (3), 6-3 winner over American Reilly Opelka.
Fifth-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark advanced in a night match, beating Alexandre Muller of France 6-2, 6-4. Rune will play defending champion Alexei Popyrin of Australia. Popyrin outlasted 10th-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in a match that ended early Friday.
Eighth-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway topped Nuno Borges of Portugal 7-5, 6-4 to set up a match with 11th-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia. Khachanov beat Emilio Nava of the United States 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1.
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Matteo Arnaldi, of Italy, hits a backhand return to Alexander Zverev, of Germany, during their men's match at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Alexander Zverev, of Germany, hits a backhand return to Matteo Arnaldi, of Italy, during their men's match at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Thursday July 31, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Alexander Zverev, of Germany, hits a backhand return to Matteo Arnaldi, of Italy, during their men's match at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Lorenzo Musetti, of Italy, serves against Alex Michelsen, of the United, States, during a match at the National Bank Open men’s tennis tournament, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Lorenzo Musetti, of Italy, returns the ball against Alex Michelsen, of the United States, during a match at the National Bank Open men’s tennis tournament, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Alex Michelsen, of the United States, serves the ball against Lorenzo Musetti, of Italy, during a match at the National Bank Open men’s tennis tournament, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Alex Michelsen, of the United States, serves the ball against Lorenzo Musetti, of Italy, during a match at the National Bank Open men’s tennis tournament, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Alex Michelsen, of the United States, returns the ball against Lorenzo Musetti, of Italy, during a match at the National Bank Open men’s tennis tournament, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
HAMIMA, Syria (AP) — A trickle of civilians left a contested area east of Aleppo on Thursday after a warning by the Syrian military to evacuate ahead of an anticipated government military offensive against Kurdish-led forces.
Government officials and some residents who managed to get out said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces prevented people from leaving via the corridor designated by the military along the main road leading west from the town of Maskana through Deir Hafer to the town of Hamima.
The SDF denied the reports that they were blocking the evacuation.
In Hamima, ambulances and government officials were gathered beginning early in the morning waiting to receive the evacuees and take them to shelters, but few arrived.
Farhat Khorto, a member of the executive office of Aleppo Governorate who was waiting there, claimed that there were "nearly two hundred civilian cars and hundreds of people who wanted to leave” the Deir Hafer area but that they were prevented by the SDF. He said the SDF was warning residents they could face “sniping operations or booby-trapped explosives” along that route.
Some families said they got out of the evacuation zone by taking back roads or going part of the distance on foot.
“We tried to leave this morning, but the SDF prevented us. So we left on foot … we walked about seven to eight kilometers until we hit the main road, and there the civil defense took us and things were good then,” said Saleh al-Othman, who said he fled Deir Hafer with more than 50 relatives.
Yasser al-Hasno, also from Deir Hafer, said he and his family left via back roads because the main routes were closed and finally crossed a small river on foot to get out of the evacuation area.
Another Deir Hafer resident who crossed the river on foot, Ahmad al-Ali, said, “We only made it here by bribing people. They still have not allowed a single person to go through the main crossing."
Farhad Shami, a spokesman for the SDF, said the allegations that the group had prevented civilians from leaving were “baseless.” He suggested that government shelling was deterring residents from moving.
The SDF later issued a statement also denying that it had blocked civilians from fleeing. It said that “any displacement of civilians under threat of force by Damascus constitutes a war crime" and called on the international community to condemn it.
“Today, the people of Deir Hafer have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to their land and homes, and no party can deprive them of their right to remain there under military pressure,” it said.
The Syrian army’s announcement late Wednesday — which said civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday — appeared to signal plans for an offensive against the SDF in the area east of Aleppo. Already there have been limited exchanges of fire between the two sides.
Thursday evening, the military said it would extend the humanitarian corridor for another day.
The Syrian military called on the SDF and other armed groups to withdraw to the other side of the Euphrates River, to the east of the contested zone. The SDF controls large swaths of northeastern Syria east of the river.
The tensions in the Deir Hafer area come after several days of intense clashes last week in Aleppo city that ended with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters and government forces taking control of three contested neighborhoods.
The fighting broke out as negotiations have stalled between Damascus and the SDF over an agreement reached last March to integrate their forces and for the central government to take control of institutions including border crossings and oil fields in the northeast.
Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, which was formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkey-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The SDF for years has been the main U.S. partner in Syria in fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with Kurdish separatist insurgents in Turkey.
Despite the long-running U.S. support for the SDF, the Trump administration has also developed close ties with the government of interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and has so far avoided publicly taking sides in the clashes in Aleppo.
Ilham Ahmed, head of foreign relations for the SDF-affiliated Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria, at a press conference Thursday said SDF officials were in contact with the United States and Turkey and had presented several initiatives for de-escalation. She said that claims by Damascus that the SDF had failed to implement the March agreement were false.
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Associated Press journalist Hogir Al Abdo in Qamishli, Syria, contributed.
Members of the Syrian military police stand at a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Members of the Syrian Civil Defense, stand next to their vehicles at a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A displaced Syrian family rides in the back of a truck near a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army next to a river in the village of Rasm Al-Abboud, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Displaced Syrian children and women ride in the back of a truck near a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Displaced Syrians at a river crossing near the village of Jarirat al Imam, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
