Ben Shelton Advances to Toronto Quarterfinals After Epic Encounter
American tennis player Ben Shelton, seeded number four, achieved a remarkable comeback in the third set to defeat Italian Flavio Cobolli, thirteenth seed, with scores of 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (1) at the National Bank Open.
Shelton, demonstrating great mental fortitude, overcame a 4-2 deficit in the final set, securing his place in the quarterfinals of the tournament that will culminate on Thursday.
After the match, the television cameras captured a tense exchange of words between Shelton and Cobolli at the net.
In the next phase, Shelton will face Australian Alex De Minaur, ninth seed, who previously defeated American Frances Tiafoe, seventh seed, with a score of 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Shelton, 22, has two ATP circuit victories, achieved on hard courts in Tokyo in 2023 and on clay in Houston last year. For his part, Cobolli, 23, has won titles on clay in Hamburg and Bucharest this year.
In another match, the Russian Andrey Rublev, sixth seed, was leading Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina with a score of 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 3-0, when Davidovich Fokina retired due to exhaustion.
Rublev will face the winner of the match between American Taylor Fritz, second seed, and Czech Jiri Lehecka.
