TORONTO (AP) \u2014 Fourth-seeded Ben Shelton beat second-seeded Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 in an all-American semifinal match Wednesday night in the National Bank Open Open.<\/p>\n
Shelton will face 11th-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia, a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4) winner over top-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany in the first semifinal in Masters 1000 hard-court event.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ve seen so many big improvements in my game this week, that\u2019s what I\u2019m most happy about, how I\u2019m executing, how little I\u2019m hesitating, how I\u2019m returning,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cThere are a lot of things to be proud about and beating two top-10 guys back-to-back is huge for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old Shelton is seeking his third career ATP Tour title. He won in Tokyo on hard courts in 2023 and Houston last year on clay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just really excited to see myself executing like this, not wondering if the shot is going to go in or out, but expecting it to go in,” Shelton said.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old Fritz has 10 career victories, winning this year on grass at Stuttgart and Eastbourne.<\/p>\n
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The start of the match was delayed 15 minutes because of a problem with the electronic line-calling system.<\/p>\n
Khachanov, a seven-time tour winner, survived a match point.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday was a real close one,\u201d Khachanov said \u201cI was match-point down. If the ball touches the net and drops over we wouldn\u2019t be talking now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zverev, the 2017 champion with 24 tour titles, is No. 3 in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first set was terrible,\u201d Zverev said. \u201cI kind of gave him a headstart and he\u2019s too good to not use that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zverev was the top seed with top-ranked Jannik Sinner \u2014 the 2023 winner \u2014 and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz skipping the expanded event.<\/p>\n
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