Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton will put their friendship to one side to battle for a spot in the Canadian Open final.
The American duo had strong campaigns at Wimbledon before flying to North American to begin the summer hard court swing in Washington D.C.
Taylor Fritz reached the last eight, while Ben Shelton progressed to the semi-finals at the Citi Open, and now they will do battle in Toronto.
Both players are competing at a high level and fans can expect an exciting contest between two of the game’s top 10 players.
Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton look forward to playing each other at the Canadian Open
Taylor Fritz defeated Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6(4) to reach the Canadian Open semi-finals.
On the other hand, Shelton ended Alex de Minaur’s eight-match win streak to move within one match of reaching his first Masters 1000 final.
Fritz and Shelton are America’s two highest-ranked players but one must get past the other to compete for a coveted title, and they are both looking forward to it.
“It’s kind of funny, we’ve been kind of in the same draw bracket several times,” Fritz said. “Every single time one of us just loses before we meet each other. But, yeah, it might happen this time.”
Shelton shared: “Really excited. He’s a big-match player. He’s been carrying the flag for the United States in the big tournaments as of late.
“And, yeah, he’s clutch, he serves well. We’re great friends, and it’s a match that I’m really excited about.”
When did Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz last play each other?
Shelton and Fritz have played each other on just one previous occasion.
The contest took place at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters, during Shelton’s first full season on the ATP Tour.
He took the first set against Fritz, before the tournament’s defending champion at the time completed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 comeback victory.
Almost two and a half years later, the pair will do battle for a second time and Shelton reflected on his first meeting with Fritz.
“I played him kind of right when I came out on tour. We had a great battle in Indian Wells,” the ATP’s world number seven said.
“I never played him in the later stages of a tournament, that was the first or second round.” The winner will play either top seed Alexander Zverev or Karen Khachanov in the Canadian Open final.
