TORONTO — Taylor Fritz stepped under the spotlight and almost immediately blasted three aces with power and precision.
The hard-serving American never really looked back — and now has a spot in the National Bank Open semifinals for the first time.
Fritz flexed his muscles in impressive fashion Tuesday, cruising past No. 6 Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-3, 7-6 (4) at Sobeys Stadium.
"It was clean," the No. 2 seed said of his performance. "I'm happy with everything."
Fritz, who sits fourth in the ATP Tour rankings and lost last year's U.S. Open final to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, will next face No. 4 Ben Shelton after his countryman also surged through to the semis by topping No. 9 Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-3, 6-4.
"I stayed calm and composed," said the 22-year-old. "Didn't panic in the long rallies."
Wednesday's other semifinal will see top seed and 2017 tournament winner Alexander Zverev of Germany take on No. 11 Karen Khachanov of Russia.
The title showdown for the Canadian men's tennis championship goes Thursday on the campus of York University.
Fritz and Shelton have only met once, back in 2023 when the former picked up a three-set victory in the second round at Indian Wells.
"He's a big-match player," Shelton said. "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.
"It's a match that I'm really excited about."
And while lifting the trophy in northwest Toronto is front of mind, along with putting in a good performance next week in Cincinnati, an even bigger prize sits just over the horizon — the U.S. Open.
Andy Roddick was the last American men's player to win a Grand Slam when he topped the field in New York all the way back in 2003.
"I don't feel like people are counting on me," said Fritz, who finished with 20 aces Tuesday. "All the pressure that I feel is just the pressure that I'm putting on myself."
"I have no doubt that one of us is going to get it at some point," added Shelton, a rising star currently ranked seventh in the world. "Who knows who it is? You guys just got to wait and see … American tennis is in a really good place."
Fritz came out firing in hazy and breezy conditions with those three aces to win the first game. He then broke Rublev in securing the match's first eight points.
Fritz fired two more aces to go up 4-1 before serving out the set.
Rublev lamented the quick Centre Court surface — "there is not much tennis" — that played to his opponent's strength.
"Here the game is very simple," he said. "Taylor served unbelievable."
Fritz, meanwhile, pointed to the harder balls being used in Toronto as having a greater impact on the flow of matches.
"The combination of these balls on a fast court is really ugly tennis, and that's kind of just how it is," he said. "(Tuesday) was by far the most playable for me. The most control I felt like I had all week."
Looking for his 11th ATP Tour victory — and second Masters 1000 crown — Fritz broke Rublev with the second set tied 4-4, but the Russian returned the favour to stay alive in the next game.
Fritz, however, wouldn't be denied in the tiebreak, and hammered his 20th ace to close out the match.
The Santa Fe, Calif., product lost in last month's Wimbledon semis to world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who along with a host of top players including Sinner, No. 5 Jack Draper and No. 6 Novak Djokovic skipped this US$9.19-million hardcourt event expanded to two weeks in 2025.
Fritz has two tournament wins on grass in 2025 and twice previously fell in the NBO round of 16 before this summer's run.
Rublev came to Toronto ranked No. 11 overall after losing in last year's final to Australia's Alexei Popyrin. The 27-year-old from Moscow made the fourth round of both Wimbledon and the French Open. Popyrin lost to Zverev in the quarters on Monday night.
Fritz improved to 6-4 in his career against Rublev, who took their last meeting on clay in the Madrid semifinals some 15 months ago.
"He's one of the best players," Rublev said. "Great results — Wimbledon semifinal, great match against Alcaraz.
"He had (an) unbelievable level."
Shelton will get a taste Wednesday night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2025.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
