Toronto (Canada) (AFP) – Taylor Fritz ended Canadian hopes at the ATP Toronto Masters on Friday as he crushed Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round. The American second seed needed just 77 minutes to dispatch the 37th-ranked local and book a meeting with Jiri Lehecka, a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 winner over France’s Arthur Fils.
Fritz is aiming to at least reach the quarter-finals north of the border, the only Masters where he has not gone that far. He broke once in the opening set against a nervous opponent and dominated from there. “It was important not to let him get into the match and get the crowd fired up,” Fritz said. “I knew the momentum could shift at any time.”
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“I’m super happy with it, considering how I felt on the court two nights ago in my first match,” Fritz added. “I felt way more comfortable, confident, just hitting the ball, being aggressive, just striking it. I did well to be up an early break in the sets. I did well to just hold. Played really solid from the baseline as well. I backed it up well from the ground, and just did a good job of not letting him back in the sets.”
Brandon Nakashima won his first set against American Ben Shelton before the fourth-seeded Shelton rallied to finish off a 6-7 (8/10), 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) win. Shelton had trailed by a break in the deciding set and Nakashima saved four match points before Shelton sealed the victory with his 19th ace. Shelton finished with 46 winners to improve to 5-0 against Nakashima and will fight for a quarter-final berth against Flavio Cobolli, who downed Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
“I’ve got to find my fire from somewhere,” Shelton said of the late-night crowd support in Canada. “I live off of that. Night matches are never easy, the temperature cools down and conditions are different. I showed a lot of perseverance. It’s difficult being down against a big server. To come from behind takes a bit of luck.”
The seeded pair of Andrey Rublev and Frances Tiafoe were tested over three sets before also making their way into the fourth round. Sixth seed Rublev, runner-up in Canada a year ago to Alexei Popyrin, advanced 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 as Lorenzo Sonego double-faulted on match point in their contest. Tiafoe, the number seven, confessed to a bad day but earned his win the hard way as he beat Australian Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
“The ball was flying a lot, it was really ugly, but I’m happy to get through it,” Tiafoe said. “It doesn’t matter how you win. You just have to compete.” Tiafoe next lines up against another Aussie in Alex de Minaur, who advanced when compatriot Christopher O’Connell pulled out with an injury.
Rublev now goes against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who beat him this season on clay in Barcelona. The Spaniard beat Jakob Mensik 6-2, 6-4. “I’m really happy, it’s my first time in the round of 16 here in Toronto,” Rublev said, adding that he had to adjust his serve in windy conditions to fashion his comeback. “I played more aggressive in the second set and made fewer mistakes. I was doing more with my serve. I had to slow it wide in the wind.”
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