Ben Shelton produced a dominant display to beat Taylor Fritz at the Canadian Open and march through to his first ATP Masters 1000 final.
The no. 4 seed overcame the no. 2 seed 6-4 6-3 on Wednesday evening (August 6) in Toronto, in what was also his first Masters 1000 semi-final.
The 22-year-old's triumph in the all-American clash sets up a final against Karen Khachanov, after the 11th seed beat top seed Alexander Zverev 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-4).
Unlike Shelton, the Russian-born player has collected silverware at the 1000 level before, as he claimed the Paris Masters title back in 2018.
However, Shelton will now be confident of winning his first ATP 1000 event as he is coming off successive wins against two top 10 seeded players.
Prior to ending Fritz' run in the Canadian capital, he beat Washington Open winner Alex de Minaur in straight sets in the quarter-finals.
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Thursday night's (August 7) final between Shelton and Khachanov will see a first-time men's singles champion crowned at the Canadian Open for the fifth year in succession.
Shelton won the only previous meeting behind the pair earlier this year, as he came out on top in the Round of 32 clash at Indian Wells.
How Shelton overcame Fritz in Toronto
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Fritz was the slight favourite going into Wednesday's contest, having had a strong year and winning the only previous match with Shelton at Indian Wells in 2023.
Both players had break points opportunities in the opening few games of the contest, but they were unable to convert any.
Shelton made the first breakthrough in the ninth game as he broke Fritz, before holding serve in the following game to take the set.
The fourth seed landed a break slightly earlier in the second set to go up 3-2 and then kept hold of his serve.
Another break of serve came in the final game as Fritz committed a double fault on match point to secure Shelton's passage to the final.
Impressively, Shelton did not commit any double faults and nailed seven aces during his semi-final victory.
The American finalist will be hoping to take this positive momentum from Toronto to the Cincinnati Open, with the seeded players set to play their opening round matches from Saturday (August 9).
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