American tennis player Ben Shelton has advanced to the semi-finals of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto after ending Alex de Minaur’s seven-match winning streak. Shelton won 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-finals on Tuesday night, moving him inside the cut for the Nitto ATP Finals.
Shelton used his strong serve and forehand to control most of the baseline rallies. The match ended in straight sets, a contrast to his previous two matches which both went to third-set tie-breaks against Brandon Nakashima and Flavio Cobolli.
“I’m really happy with the win; it showed a lot of mental toughness,” Shelton said. “He’s broken me a million times in practice and he’s a really tough competitor. I served out the sets confidentially and I’m really excited about the chance to be in the semi-finals.”
During his 91-minute victory, Shelton hit 13 aces. He will now face second seed Taylor Fritz in an all-American Masters 1000 semi-final—an occurrence that has happened only four times since 2000. Fritz previously defeated Shelton at Indian Wells in 2023.
According to Infosys ATP Stats, Shelton made eight forehand winners and benefited from De Minaur’s 28 unforced errors. He also edged De Minaur in baseline points (32-29) and led longer rallies (12-7 for rallies of nine or more shots).
“A lot of guys see me as just a server and not as much as a baseliner,” Shelton said. “Psychologically, when I get into a match and go into lockdown mode and put a million balls in the court, my rally ball does come with a good bit of weight and I feel I surprise guys at times.
“Being able to win the longer rallies and be comfortable in my own skin and not feeling like I’m rushing to make something happen is a huge part of my evolution.”
With this result over last year’s Toronto finalist De Minaur, Shelton moves up two places to seventh position in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin. He aims to qualify for his first season-ending championship from November 9-16 in Italy.
At age 22, Shelton becomes the youngest American Masters 1000 semi-finalist since Andy Roddick reached this stage at Indian Wells two decades ago. If he wins this tournament, he will rise from No. 7 to No. 6 in his career-high PIF ATP Ranking, overtaking Novak Djokovic.
Looking ahead to playing Fritz—just their second meeting—Shelton said: “Yeah, really excited. I played him right when I came out on tour. We had a great battle in Indian Wells… He’s a big-match player. He’s been carrying the flag for the United States in the big tournaments as of late. He’s clutch, serves well. We’re great friends, and it’s a match that I’m really excited about.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Fritz beat World No. 11 Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6(4), serving 20 aces—a personal best for him over three sets.
De Minaur recently won Washington’s ATP 500 event and leads all players with 24 hard-court match wins this season. Despite dropping one spot to eighth place in the Live Race standings after losing here, he remains likely to qualify again for Turin later this year.