TORONTO — Ben Shelton entered his semifinal at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers with a plan, and he wasted no time executing it to perfection Wednesday night.
Sure, he had to wait a little while to actually hit the court, his matchup against fellow American Taylor Fritz delayed first by a marathon matchup between Karen Khachanov and Alexander Zverev that lasted nearly three hours, and then by technical issues. But once the night’s second semifinal got underway, Shelton was quick to launch into his game, and he made quick work of Fritz with a straight-sets victory to earn a berth in his first-ever Masters 1000 final.
“I think for me it was about keeping him moving, keeping him off balance. Mixing up the way that I play, but playing within my limits, and being really solid,” said Shelton, who took the match by a score of 6-4, 6-3 in just 78 minutes — half the time of the first semifinal matchup.
Wednesday’s pair of semifinal matchups couldn’t have been more different from one another. Where Khachanov vs. Zverev was long — in rallies, in set length, in total match time — and short on momentum for either man, Shelton’s win over Fritz was fast and furious, short and sweet. And it was worth the wait, delivering quick thrills thanks to Shelton’s aggressive approach and bursts of joy from the crowd with every blazing ace, sneaky drop-shot, and equally energetic return between the friends-turned-frenemies.
And truthfully, Shelton didn’t mind the late start time.
“I’m cool. I don’t mind when there’s a lot of time,” he said, when asked about the timing and the wait. “For me, I struggle a bit more if I’m rushed. That’s why I warm up really early.
“Actually, playing late in the night, it helps me a lot,” he added.
It certainly appeared that way. Shelton, currently ranked seventh in the world and seeded fourth at the tournament, was in fine form. He posted seven aces and outduelled Fritz — a No. 2 seed in this tournament and the fourth-ranked player on the ATP circuit — in long rallies with aggressive net-front play.
Shelton’s entertaining win rallied the crowd, too, which embraced both American stars. His antics after points won — a raised hand, a wave to the crowd to keep cheering, a shout of excitement following a rally — had the Toronto fans hanging on his every shot. His most notable one came deep into the second set, when Shelton lured Fritz to the net before sending a drop-shot careening over his head to break serve and set himself up on a path to victory.
“I hit a pretty good dropshot, so he was close to the net. The ball sat up a little bit, so that made it easier,” Shelton said of the shot post-match. “For me, that’s a shot since I’ve been a kid I’ve always been really good at. The better and better that I hit my backhand, the more versatile I become with it.”
Fritz, on the other hand, wasn’t at his best. His third double fault of the night was ultimately his undoing, but on a hazy night in Toronto under the lights of Centre Court, it was clear who held the momentum in this one.
Awaiting Shelton in Thursday’s final is Karen Khachanov, who earlier Wednesday knocked off the tournament’s top seed, No. 3-ranked Alexander Zverev, in a marathon matchup that lasted nearly three hours and required a tie-breaker to produce a winner.
Khachanov’s 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4) victory was a closely contested, back-and-forth affair that saw the opponents take turns holding serve. It was the kind of matchup that required precision over power — though, there was plenty of the latter, particularly in Zverev’s signature strong serve — with Khachanov taking advantage of the few opportunities his top-seeded opponent allowed.
And while the matchup went down to the wire and late into the night, Zverev felt the match was ultimately lost in the early goings of the evening when he allowed Khachanov a chance to take the lead when he broke serve early in the first set to go up 3-1.
“I didn’t feel my best on the court, didn’t play my best tennis,” Zverev said post-match, critical of his own performance. “The first set was terrible, so I kind of gave him a head start — and he’s too good to not use that.”
Following the crucial first set, neither Khachanov nor Zverev gave his peer much room for error, with both men holding serve until the final game of the second set, when Zverev pushed the match to a third with a well-timed break. A tightly contested third set went to a tie-breaker, where Zverev had Khachanov on the ropes, up 3-1, only to give up the lead — and ultimately, the match — with a pair of unforced errors.
“It’s upsetting that I lost this match,” a dejected Zverev explained post-match.
Asked what he did differently than his opponent, a victorious Khachanov suggested the match could’ve gone either way — and it likely would’ve, had he not been able to surge late when he did.
“Maybe I put a little bit more pressure, he got a little bit more nervous, more tight. So, this is how you play in those moments. You try to bring your A-game,” said Khachanov post-match.
It was, ultimately, a test of endurance. The longer the match went, the longer the rallies extended, too, with the duo treating the Toronto crowd to some head-swivelling series that had both competitors sprinting cross-court and had fans ooh-ing and ahh-ing and erupting in applause when a point was awarded.
But the biggest wave of excitement belonged not to this matchup, but to the one happening in Montreal on the women’s side at the same time, with news of Canada’s Victoria Mboko advancing to the women’s final in a tie-breaker thriller. Murmurs of the outcome — “Mboko just won!” “She got the tie-breaker!” “That match just ended!” — quickly circulated around Centre Court as fans in Toronto watched the action with one eye on their screens. A break in Toronto’s action was the perfect time for the stadium announcer to declare the news to anyone who hadn’t yet heard that the hometown teen just booked her ticket to the final showdown.
While much of the tennis world is no doubt now preparing for another thriller courtesy of Canada’s sudden sensation in Montreal, fans in Toronto await a showdown that could present an interesting clash of playing styles and a study in momentum as Shelton and Khachanov square off for just the second time on the ATP circuit.
The two went head-to-head this past spring at Indian Wells, with Shelton topping the 29-year-old in the round of 32 during a run to the quarterfinals. Now, the two meet again in a bout that holds plenty of significance for both.
“It’s huge,” Shelton said of his first final at this level. “Talked about how the Masters were the one level of tournaments that I’ve been struggling with, and my next step is being able to excel in these tournaments. So, taking that first step and getting my first deep run under my belt is exciting.”
Thursday’s final marks Khachanov’s second career 1000-level final, and first since 2018. It’s also his biggest tournament final since the Tokyo Olympics.
Asked about the upcoming final, Shelton referenced that first meeting, calling it “a tough match.”
“He’s been playing really, really good tennis this whole week,” Shelton said of Khachanov. “He’s a rock-solid baseliner, serves really well, and great competitor.
“I love him, really nice guy, and really looking forward for that first opportunity in a Masters final.”
