Defending champion Ben Shelton continued his strong run through the National Bank Open with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Belgium’s Zizou Bergs on Friday to reach the Round of 16 in Montreal.
Shelton, the highest remaining seed at No. 5, was dominant on his serve with eight aces and no double faults. He won 26 of 30 first-serve points (86.7%) and won all 16 of his service points in the second set, taking the final five games to thoroughly defeat the No. 31 seed.
Bergs had nearly twice as many unforced errors (23) as winners (12), a vast difference from Shelton’s 15 winners and six errors.
“It was a good day for me,” Shelton said after the match. “I thought I managed the match really well. Especially with the way he came out serving. I had to make some adjustments to get into the return games and find ways to break, but down the stretch, I thought that I played great tennis and kept my foot on the gas when I got the lead. I am super happy.”
He’ll next face either No. 9 seed Casper Ruud of Norway or No. 22 Joao Fonseca from Brazil — who face off Friday evening — for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Dutch competitor Tallon Griekspoor followed up his upset of No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev on Wednesday with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 comeback defeat of No. 30 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy. Griekspoor excelled when Arnaldi went to his second serve, winning 58.3% of his second-return points and converting 5 of 9 break-point chances.
Griekspoor’s next opponent will be 21-year-old Spaniard Daniel Merida, who came away with a 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1 win over Alex Michelsen to reach the fourth round of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time.
Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands rallied past Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz for a 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 triumph after his second-round upset of No. 4 seed Daniil Medvedev.
No. 13 Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic faces France’s Terence Atmane Friday night, with the winner set for a clash with van de Zandschulp.
No. 12 Learner Tien and No. 17 Tommy Paul will face off in an all-American final match of the night.
–Field Level Media
