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 now face off against No. 22 Joao Fonseca from Brazil for a spot in the quarterfinals after the 19-year-old took down Norway’s No. 9 seed Casper Ruud 7-6 (6), 6-3. Shelton beat Fonseca in April this year in three sets at the BMW Open.
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 win over 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 will take on van de Zandschulp after his 7-5, 6-4 victory over France’s Terence Atmane at the end of the night. Mensik won 38 of his 43 first serve points (88.4%) in the victory.
In the last match of the night, No. 12 Learner Tien came away on top of an all-American duel with No. 17 Tommy Paul with a 6-3, 6-2 win. Tien will continue his run by facing Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina who beat Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-4.
–Field Level Media
