
Fritz wins two tie-breaks to complete ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final sweep
Taylor Fritz won two of three tie-breaks to beat Jiri Lehecka in a near three-hour classic and reach the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open, with neither player dropping serve.
Fritz triumphed 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) in two hours and 59 minutes to tee up a quarter-final meeting with Andrey Rublev in Toronto.
Lehecka spurned nine break points throughout the match while Fritz failed to convert any of his five chances, but he won five of the last six points to edge the deciding tie-break.
"I think in the end it was about accepting what was there for me tonight," Fritz said. "Luckily for me, I was serving really, really well tonight. He was too."
Fritz, who won 82% of his first-serve points, has now reached the quarter-finals of all nine ATP Masters 1000 events, becoming the first non-European player to do so since Shanghai's inaugural tournament in 2009.
"It's really cool," Fritz said when alerted to that achievement. "It shows consistency at all the different tournaments and surfaces. I guess what's next is to go for the semis."
Quarter-final collection complete @Taylor_Fritz97 survives Lehecka 7-6(4) 6-7(5) 7-6(5) and has now reached the final eight at every Masters 1000 event! @NBOtoronto | #NBO25 pic.twitter.com/zhNlJRrBwV
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 4, 2025
Fritz will be one of three Americans to play for a semi-final berth, after Alex Michelsen beat Learner Tien 6-3 6-3 on Saturday and Ben Shelton overcame Flavio Cobolli 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-1) a day later.
Shelton, who is seeded fourth, will face ninth seed Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals, while 26th-seeded Michelsen takes on Karen Khachanov.
Data Debrief: Flying the flag
In Fritz, Shelton and Michelsen, the United States has had three players reach the last eight of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time since 2004.
At Indian Wells that year, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and James Blake all made the quarters, though none made the final as Roger Federer beat Tim Henman, having overcome Agassi in the semis.