TORONTO – Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton won the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open on Tuesday, setting their first national semifinals in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in 15 years.
Second-seeded Fritz defeated No. 6 seed Andreil Brev 6-3, 7-6 (4). He hit 20 aces, including those who finished the match.
No. 4 seed Shelton defeated Australia’s No. 9 Alex de Minaurus 6-3, 6-4. The 22-year-old has arrived for the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time.
This is the first Wednesday matchup between Fritz and Shelton since Andy Roddick defeated Mardi Fish in Cincinnati in 2010, and the two Americans met in the ATP Masters 1000 semi-finals.
In the other semi-finals on Wednesday, Germany’s top seed Alexander Zverev, the 2017 tournament winner in Montreal, will win Russia’s No. 11 Karen Kachanov. The final is Thursday.
Fritz fired in a vague and refreshing state with three aces to win the first game. He then broke Rublev by securing the first 8 points of the match.
The 27-year-old American, who sat in fourth in the ATP Tour rankings and lost last year’s US Open Final to No. 1 Jannik Sinner, fired two more aces before offering the set to go 4-1.
His 11th ATP Tour victory – and the Second Masters 1000 Crown – Fritz defeated Lubrev in the second set that tied 4-4, but Russia returned favors to stay alive in the next game, moving up to 6-5 before Fritz forced a tiebreaker.
Fritz lost to second-placed Carlos Alcaraz in Wimbledon semis. Carlos Alcaraz expanded the hard court event to two weeks in 2025, along with many top players including Thinner, No. 5 Jack Draper and No. 6 No. 6 No. 12 No. 12.
Rublev lost in the final to Australia’s Alexei Popilin last year, with the event taking place in Montreal. The 27-year-old from Moscow has made his fourth round of both Wimbledon and French openings.