Ben Shelton seals first Masters 1000 semifinal to book Toronto clash with Taylor Fritz

The top-two ranked Americans on the ATP Tour will square off for a place in the Toronto final come Wednesday evening at the National Bank Open.

Ben Shelton booked a showdown with Taylor Fritz in reaching his maiden ATP Masters 1000 semifinal. The left-hander halted Washington, D.C. champion Alex de Minaur, 6-3, 6-4, to close out Tuesday's action for his first Top 10 win of the season.

The runner-up here two years ago, De Minaur came in on a seven-match win streak and leading all ATP players with 24 hard-court victories this year. In a game where he had chances to keep pace, the Australian was the first to crack at 2-3 after catching consecutive shots late—a forehand volley and backhand up the line. Shelton was the more effective hitter with 13 winners (to 14 unforced errors) in seizing control of the scoreboard.

Though the two-time major semifinalist couldn’t consolidate an early break in the second set, Shelton immediately recovered. The No. 4 seed outlasted his opponent in a grueling baseline exchange at deuce, which De Minaur followed up with a double fault to hand over the re-break. Shelton ran with the lead from there to become the youngest U.S. man to reach the last four of a 1000-level event since Andy Roddick at 2005 Indian Wells.

"I think versatility on the return is really important, and every guy's different. Each of the guys that I played this tournament I had to have a very different return style and plan of attack," Shelton told press afterwards. "And I executed really well tonight, I took away the things that I needed to take away, I played the odds, and I was solid."

Fritz shook off not initially serving out his quarterfinal to defeat Andrey Rublev, the 2024 finalist (in Montreal). The No. 2 seed unleashed 20 aces during a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory, improving to 6-4 against Rublev.

"I would say especially the last two matches, I just feel like any time I've been a bit under pressure I've been coming up with good serves, getting a lot of free points with it. I've been hitting all the spots pretty well. I think that's just the big thing, it feels like it's flowing," said Fritz.

The 27-year-old is looking to match his biggest career trophy, having triumphed at the 2022 BNP Paribas Open. It was at Indian Wells a year later when Fritz won his only meeting to date with Shelton from a set down in the second round. *U.S. viewers can stream Wednesday's showdown live on the Tennis Channel app*