Ben Shelton reached the pinnacle of his tennis career yet by reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 final.
The American stunned higher-ranked compatriot Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 Wednesday night in Toronto to make his way into his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Canadian Open 2025.
His two ATP titles have come at the 250 and 500 level.
Ben Shelton Gets The Better Of Taylor Fritz
The World No. 7 displayed incredible service and baseline assault in the match.
In the first all-American ATP Masters 1000 semi-final since 2010, Shelton earned six break points across three Fritz service games in the opening set.
The 22-year-old,in the second set, claimed the decisive break in the fifth game with a drop shot/lob combo that left Fritz floundering at the net.
The southpaw secured back-to-back Top 10 victories for the first time, following his quarter-final win over recent Washington ATP 500 champion Alex de Minaur.
“I’ve seen so many big improvements in my game this week, that’s what I’m most happy about, how I’m executing, how little I’m hesitating, how I’m returning,” Shelton said.
“There are a lot of things to be proud about and beating two Top 10 guys back to back is huge for me.”
The win also lifted Shelton to fifth in the race for the year-ender finale inTurin as he bids book a spot for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. Should he win the title, Shelton will move to fourth, ahead of Novak Djokovic.
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Shelton claimed his 100th tour-level win earlier in the tournament that will propel him career-high No. 6 in the ATP Rankings ahead of Djokovic if he wins the final.
In the final, Shelton will face Karen Khachanov in Thursday’s final. The Russian moved into the final of the ATP Toronto Masters following his semifinal triumph over German top seed Alexander Zverev with 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) margin.
Khachanov registered a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Zverev, while American Shelton beat compatriot Fritz 6-4, 6-3 in straight sets to punch his ticket to the final.
