You can’t do much when your opponent outplays you. So much so that the last thing you can do is vent your angst on the court. Taylor Fritz felt it on Wednesday night at the Centre Court. His compatriot and World No.7 Ben Shelton hardly gave him room to make a comeback in a dominating one-sided duel. The Wimbledon semifinalist didn’t have any comeback to the 22-year-old’s dominating serves and commanding baseline shots. Eventually, he could only do one thing – react, express, let it out, let it go. You get the gist.

Fritz was seen taking out his uncontrollable frustration on his racket when it was all said and done. After he committed a double fault towards the end, the match went in favor of Shelton. The world No.4 just smashed his racket against his legs with such shattering force. Shelton snagged the victory with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-3.

Perhaps Fritz’s anger was also the result of something that had happened just minutes before his face-off against Shelton. Fritz was ready and warmed up to take on his compatriot in the semifinal. But his excitement was met with disappointment. He, along with Ben, was “forced off court” due to a technical issue related to the electronic line calling (ELC). The match resumed after a 15-minute delay before it actually began. Now, imagine Fritz’s plight, all his preparedness for this clash in vain because of the disruption and feeling helpless against Shelton. The latter took a meagre hour and 18 minutes to show Fritz the door and entered into his maiden ATP 1000 Masters final.

With this win, Shelton also leveled the H2H tally to 1-1 against Fritz. In their first meeting back in 2023, during the Indian Wells, Fritz had the last laugh. While Shelton was able to avenge his 2023 Indian Wells loss, Fritz’z wrecking Ralph reaction to Wednesday’s final result feels like Déjà vu. Cue flashback: the last season’s Geneva Open.

In May 2024, a 19-year-old, Alex Michelsen, beat him in the quarterfinal with a scoreline of 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Despite the intensity of the clash, Fritz drew the short straw. Acceptance did not happen instantly. In the final set, when Michelsen was at three match points at 6-5 (40-0), the 27-year-old hit a shot that landed outside, giving Michelsen the winning point. Immediately, Fritz broke his racket in the same way as he did against Shelton.

But once again, all credit goes to Shelton’s focus-based approach that made his rival helpless during the Canadian Open encounter. The 22-year-old eventually spilled the beans on what he had worked out for Fritz ahead of their match.

Ben Shelton’s key strategy behind big win over Taylor Fritz

Last month wasn’t great for Ben Shelton as he witnessed back-to-back setbacks. At Wimbledon, the youngster failed to move past World No.1 Jannik Sinner in a QF clash. Then at the Citi Open, he couldn’t enter the final after a defeat against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He’s yet to win a single title this season.

This month, however, Shelton seems to have worked on his consistency. Probably that’s the reason he’s witnessed constant success in Toronto. “I’ve seen so many big improvements in my game this week, that’s what I’m most happy about, how I’m executing, how little I’m hesitating, how I’m returning,” he said after entering the final.

“There are a lot of things to be proud about and beating two Top 10 guys back to back is huge for me.” Before Fritz, he also managed to overcome World No.8 Alex de Minaur – quite comfortably with a score line of 6-3, 6-4 – in the quarterfinal.

Furthermore, Shelton spoke about what he did to not give Taylor Fritz any chance. “When he’s standing in one corner, he’s one of the best in the world at being behind the ball and hitting it harder and harder every time. I knew I had to keep him moving and I did a great job of that… I felt like I had the ball on a string,” He also felt happy about seeing himself “executing like this, not wondering if the shot is going to go in or out, but expecting it to go in…”

After his latest victory, he has become the youngest American (at 22 years and 291 days) to enter the Masters 1000 final in 21 years. Back in 2004, ex-ATP pro and compatriot Andy Roddick (at 21 years and 330 days) did it in Toronto.

In the ultimate battle on Thursday, Shelton will face Russian’s Karen Khachanov. If he beats him, the American will capture his first-ever Masters 1000 trophy along with $1,124,380 prize money. What are your thoughts on his chances against the Russian pro? Let us know in the comments below.