Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Ben Shelton’s Clinical Performance Against Countryman Taylor Fritz Propels Him to a Career First Masters 1000 Final

Ben Shelton makes light work of Fritz to power through to the National Bank Open final in Toronto!

Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The number 4 seed at the National Bank Open in Toronto, Ben Shelton, powered through his semifinal against the second-seeded fellow American Taylor Fritz. The 22-year-old came through in straight sets with a 6-4, 6-3 win in just 1 hour and 18 minutes.

In a clash between the current top two American male singles players, Shelton produced a clinical performance in his first-ever semifinal at a Masters 1000 event. With his win, he has now reached his first career final at this level. Heading into the match, the pair had met only once back at Indian Wells in 2023 when Fritz defeated his younger compatriot.

Ben Shelton is headed to the biggest final of his career 😤 pic.twitter.com/XXK2fCXglZ
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 7, 2025

Shelton’s Power Game Hands Him the First Set

Both players started the match finding their rhythm and taking time to get used to the conditions. There were multiple opportunities to break early on in the first set, in particular for Shelton, but neither player was able to convert.

As the set reached 4-4, the 22-year-old found a higher gear to finally break his opponent and serve for the first set. The main storyline of the match was Shelton’s power game, which was on song and causing all sorts of trouble for Fritz.

Moreover, Shelton also served much better throughout the match. Although Fritz had the higher first serve percentage, it was his fellow national who won an exceptional 86% of his first serves (25/29), dropping just 4 points when he landed a first serve.

Ben Shelton becomes the youngest American man to reach a Masters 1000 final since Andy Roddick in 2004.

Big moves.

🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/QFWs44NvhC
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 7, 2025

Precision Play Sends Shelton to the Final

After taking the first set 6-4, Shelton grew in confidence, while Fritz’s body language showed he was frustrated at not finding a way past his opponent’s powerful yet precise game. Additionally, the youngster was also able to extend several rallies by tracking down everything that was thrown against him.

The fifth game of the second set proved to be crucial as Shelton’s backspin slices were causing problems. A double fault, an unforced error, and a great down-the-line backhand winner set up 3 break points for Shelton, who secured the break with a well-executed drop shot and lob combination.

Dropshot lob combo done to perfection 🤝#NBO25 pic.twitter.com/0BseLSKAJg
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 7, 2025

At 3-2 with Shelton serving a break up and Fritz struggling for any sort of momentum, the match was all but over. Routine and precise play from the 4th seed saw him sail through to the final when Fritz doubled-faulted on break point to hand Shelton the game, set, and match.

Match Stats

Entering tonight’s match, Shelton was 25-1 this year after winning the first set. His brilliant performance against Fritz, especially on serve, helped him move to 26-1. Shelton won 75% of his service points and 43% of the points while returning. He also hit more winners and was a dominant 6/7 at the net.

Ben Shelton	Stat Category	Taylor Fritz
7	Aces	4
0	Double Faults	3
29/51 (57%)	First serve %	38/61 (62%)
25/29 (86%)	Win % on 1st serve	26/38 (68%)
13/22 (59%)	Win % on 2nd serve	9/23 (39%)
3/10 (30%)	Break points converted	0/2 (0%)
21	Winners	11
27	Unforced Errors	21
6/7 (86%)	Net Points	8/11 (73%)
64/112 (57%)	Total Points won	48/112 (43%)

Next up for the American number 2 is a match against Karen Khachanov, who earlier dispatched the mighty German Alexander Zverev in three sets. Shelton and Khachanov have faced each other only once, which was earlier this year in the round of 32 clash at Indian Wells, where the American came through in two sets. The American will be eyeing his first title of the year and a first career Masters 1000 win as well.

Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

ATP

Ben Shelton

National Bank Open 2025

Taylor Fritz

Tennis

Toronto Masters

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!