Toronto (Canada) (AFP) – US second seed Taylor Fritz overcame a late niggle while serving for the match on Tuesday to beat Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) and reach the ATP Toronto Masters semi-finals. The American claimed his place in a fifth semi-final of the season after losing serve while trying to close out what had been looking like a quick win, finally coming through into the last four at this level for the first time after 83 minutes.
The Californian will play for a spot in the Thursday final when he takes on fourth seed Ben Shelton, who won a Masters quarter-final on his fourth attempt, defeating Australian Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4. Shelton laid down 11 aces in his 91-minute victory and dominated on rallies longer than nine shots. The result ended a seven-match win streak for last week’s Washington champion de Minaur.
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“I’m really happy with that performance. It showed mental toughness from start to finish,” Shelton said. “This win gives me a lot of confidence, I’m excited about the semi-final. People often just see me as a server, not much of a grinder, but when I go into lockdown mode and put a lot of balls onto the court, it surprises guys sometimes. Winning longer rallies is all part of my evolution.” Shelton set up three match points with his final ace and needed only one chance to emerge the winner.
Fritz admitted he was struck by brain freeze as he served for victory leading a set and 5-4. After saving three break points, he put a return into the net for 5-all as Rublev held on. “That game was so shaky for me, we had both been holding serve easily, everything felt calm and chill,” he said. “It came out of nowhere, the pressure of that game. It was tight and my brain just turned off. The only thing to do is to come back and try to win the set. That’s what is able to make it all feel not as bad.”
Fritz did just that, closing out the win 15 minutes later in the second-set tiebreaker with a serve winner. Fritz struck a personal-best 20 aces (for three-set matches) among his 29 winners. He now stands 6-4 over Rublev. The American has now won 19 of his last 22 matches, including reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals.
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