Fritz

TORONTO — The same serve that staked Taylor Fritz to an early advantage over Andrey Rublev helped save his bacon after a second-set wobble tilted the match from firmly in Fritz’s control to a contest that suddenly felt up for grabs. In the end, though, Fritz put a fitting exclamation point on his performance by officially dispatching Rublev with his 20^th ace on Centre Court at Sobeys Stadium.

Fritz booked his spot in the semifinals of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers with a two-set (6-3, 7-6) win over Rublev in Toronto on Tuesday night. Just a few weeks after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals at Wimbledon, Fritz will face fellow American Ben Shelton in a final-four match on Wednesday.

It sure seemed like Fritz — the No. 2 seed at the NBO and the No. 4-ranked player in the world — was going to cruise through his quarterfinal match against Rublev early on. The 27-year-old was up 3-0 in the first set before many fans had found their seats, blasting three aces in the first game and winning the first nine points of the match. While Rublev showed signs of coming around throughout the first set and especially in the second, Fritz was on the precipice of a pretty breezy win after he broke his opponent to go up 5-4 in the second. However, Fritz failed to convert a match point against Rublev in the next game and wound up having his serve broken for the first time since his first match at the NBO. 

After each player held serve to make it 6-6, Fritz jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the tie-breaker. With a second chance to serve for the match, Fritz made no mistake, whizzing that final ace past Rublev.

Speaking on the court following his victory, Fritz acknowledged he was a little rattled after letting that first opportunity slip through his hands.

“I say this every time I blow some kind of opportunity, yeah, that hurts a lot to not serve it out there when I had those chances and I was serving so well the whole match,” he said. “There’s no other way to say it, I got a little tight; I was super-chill before and then I started freaking out a little bit. The only thing you can do is keep playing, keep moving forward, forget about it. I’m going to be a lot more upset if I let that game kind of take over my mind and then I end up losing the match because of it. The only thing I can do is come back, try to win in a (tie-breaker). Now I get the win, I’m still upset about (not closing out the first time), but a lot less upset than I would be.”

While any anger Fritz felt was put to rest by his victory, Rublev remained a little irked by the fast playing conditions in Toronto. 

“Here the game is very simple, it’s only serve and the guy who just (has) more returns, because with these conditions there is not much tennis,” said Rublev, who lost in the NBO final last year. “Taylor served unbelievable and (had good returns). But it’s the same condition for every player. We’re all in the same conditions, and that’s it.”

Fritz definitely seems to be equipped to handle whatever is thrown his way right now, especially with the groove he’s hit in his service game. “I would say especially the last two matches, I just feel like any time I’ve been a bit under pressure I’ve been coming up with good serves, getting a lot of free points with it,” he said. “I’ve been hitting all the spots pretty well. I think that’s just the big thing, it feels like it’s flowing.”

Fritz, who lost the U.S. Open final last year to current world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, is inching closer to his second career tour-level victory. After having a rhythm where it’s been one day on, one day of rest at the NBO, things will now pick up. Fritz is right back at it tomorrow in his semifinal match, with the final slated to go 24 hours after that on Thursday.

“It helps a lot that (the win over Rublev) was a straight-setter, not too physical,” he said. “I think if I would have played the match I played a couple days ago (a three-setter that featured three tie-breakers) and had to come back the next day, that would have been absolutely brutal. I’m mentally ready, and I think, again, with the match today, I think I’ll also be physically ready, because it wasn’t an insane three-hour match.”

Bringing energy to the semifinal showdown with Fritz should be no trouble for Shelton, as the 22-year-old has reached the final four of a tour-level event for the first time in his career. Shelton, ranked No. 7 in the world, also punched his ticket with a two-set win (6-3, 6-4), as he blasted 11 aces of his own to brush aside Aussie Alex de Minaur.

“It’s tough when you’re playing a player like him who returns so well, stands so close to the baseline and has really great hands,” he said on Centre Court moments after the match. “For me, I needed a little extra on my serve tonight, I needed this to be a good serving night (and) it was a great serving night. My last few matches have been struggles, I’ve been down breaks in the third, playing final-set tie-breakers, a lot of drama. To get a straight-set win and play the way I did tonight, I’m really happy.”

It feels like whoever can keep the aces piling up between Fritz and Shelton will determine which guy remains happy after their big semifinal clash.