Americans Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton are on a collision course for the semifinals in the bottom half of the Toronto Masters draw. Standing in their way on Tuesday, however, are Andrey Rublev and Alex de Minaur.
(6) Andrey Rublev vs. (2) Taylor Fritz
Fritz is on an absolute roll at the moment and has certainly established himself as the third favorite at the U.S. Open–the favorite among everyone else outside of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The fourth-ranked American advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals (lost to Alcaraz in a fourth-set tiebreaker) and he is 5-1 so far on North American hard courts. Fritz lost a three-hour marathon against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Washington, D.C. quarterfinals but has bounced back to reach the same stage of the National Bank Open with victories over Roberto Carballes Baena, Gabriel Diallo, and Jiri Lehecka.
Up next for the No. 2 seed on Tuesday is a 10th meeting with Rublev, who trails the head-to-head series 5-4. The Russian won their most recent contest en route to the 2024 Madrid Masters title, but Fritz has won their last four hard-court encounters (two outdoors, two indoors). Although the 2025 campaign has mostly been a struggle for Rublev, he has done well in Toronto to defeat Hugo Gaston, Lorenzo Sonego, and Davidovich Fokina (the latter via third-set retirement). Fritz is playing at an awesome level from the back of the court right now, so it’s hard to see a more erratic Rublev being able to keep up in the consistency department. Lehecka pushed Fritz to a third-set tiebreaker in a match that featured zero service breaks, but Rublev doesn’t have the serve that is going to mimic the Czech’s impressive efforts.
Pick: Fritz in 2
(9) Alex de Minaur vs. (4) Ben Shelton
De Minaur and Shelton will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Tuesday. It has already been an eventful hard-court summer for both guys. De Minaur captured his 10th ATP title in Washington, where Shelton made a run to the semifinals before losing to Davidovich Fokina. Both players are coming off three-setters on Sunday in Toronto; De Minaur withstood Frances Tiafoe before Shelton outlasted Flavio Cobolli in a contentious thriller that ended in a third-set tiebreaker.
This is a classic battle between offense and defense, and right now it’s tough to back anyone–other than Sinner, Alcaraz, and maybe Fritz–to break down De Minaur’s counter-punching skills. Shelton obviously has a huge game, but it remains inconsistent–as we saw plenty of times during recent three-setters against Cobolli and Brandon Nakashima, both of whom led by a break in the third set. De Minaur might hit the wall at some point this week, but it probably won’t be in a matchup that is sure to feature mostly quick points compared to what the Aussie is accustomed to playing.
Pick: De Minaur in 2
WWW?
Fritz barely got through against Lehecka. De Minaur struggled in his service games against Tiafoe. Rublev looked pretty solid against AD. If Shelton is serving well, he will win. Rublev in 3, Shelton in 3
Fritz in 2….Demon in 2 (and a big Shout Out to both Fritz and Shelton for gutsy wins on Sun night!!)
Fritz might be the 3rd fav. among the odds makers at the USO, but his tank is low at best to make an actual run, having played another epic 3 set 3 hour match with Lehecka barely winning, and he didn’t look good vs. Carballes Baena which should have been a walking bye, Fritz’s level isn’t that high, otherwise he would be dispatching RCB and Lehecka easier, Rublev has only once beaten Fritz on hard, it’s going to be time #2 as Fritz is running on fumes at best no matter Rublev’s form, Rublev is far fresher and will take advantage of a fatigued Fritz, Rublev in 2, 6-4, 6-2.
Hahaha horrible take
They call him tennis head because his head is like a tennis ball – hollow
Oh wow, look at you, all you ever do is come on here and post garbage comments like this, never about tennis.
let’s tone it down, folks
Fritz in 2
Demon in 2
Don’t overthink this one ladies and gents
yep
Taylor in 3, Alex in 3
Interesting match, Shelton hasn’t looked great in his last 2 matches and de Minaur didn’t look great vs. Tiafoe, plus he’s coming in off the DC title where he played long matches, so he should be tired by now, Shelton’s big lefty game is sure to cause de Min some problems, Shelton in 3.
I agree with this, thought DM would have lost earlier through fatigue .
Fritz is balling