TORONTO: Taylor Fritz battled into Monday morning before finally getting past Czech Jiri Lehecka with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5) victory in three hours to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Toronto Masters.

The US second seed finished off a complete matched set of Masters 1000 quarter-finals as the last piece of the puzzle fell into place in Canada.

The late-night marathon lasted 39 games without a break of serve, with 15 aggregate break points going begging.

Fritz delivered two aces in the final-set tiebreaker on his way to the narrow win, moving into the last eight as Lehecka drove long.

Fellow American Ben Shelton earned a second chance after Flavio Cobillo failed to serve out their match, with the fourth seed finally securing a somewhat contentious 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1) win.

The pair had words after the match, which Shelton characterised as nothing serious.

The winner, who now plays Alex de Minaur, earned his 100th ATP-level win after nearly two and a half hours, firing an ace on his second match point to wrap up a place in the last eight for a third straight tournament after Wimbledon and Washington.

De Minaur pushed his ATP winning streak to seven matches as he fended off Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

The Australian won the Washington title on Sunday before plunging into the chaotic schedule at Toronto, where play began on the weekend and will continue through Thursday.

De Minaur added his voice to the growing chorus of player complaints about the new 12-day Masters calendar, which will see play start in Cincinnati this week before Canada completes its unorthodox Thursday night final.

The Australian said he wasn’t helped by a third-round walkover — which gave him three straight days off in the middle of the tournament.

Sixth seed Andrey Rublev, runner-up last year when the tournament was held in Montreal, reached his 14th Masters quarter-final 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/2), 3-0 when Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was forced to retire with possible cramping.

Both men ended the battle with 37 unforced errors, with sixth seed Rublev to play Fritz for a semi-final spot.

SWIATEK CRASHES OUT

In Montreal, Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek became the latest seed to fall at the WTA Canadian Open on Sunday, stunned 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 by 19th-ranked Dane Clara Tauson in the fourth round.

Swiatek, ranked third in the world and seeded second in Montreal, followed top-seeded Coco Gauff, third-seeded two-time defending champion Jessica Pegula and fourth-seeded Mirra Andreeva out the door.

Fifth-seeded American Amanada Anisimova followed later with a straight-sets loss to Elina Svitolina.

Tauson avenged a fourth-round loss to Swiatek at Wimbledon and called her second career victory over a top-five player “unreal”.

Tauson booked a quarter-final berth against Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who saved two match points on the way to a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Czech Karolina Muchova.

It was the American’s third match win of the year in which she overcame a match point.

Meanwhile, it was clear sailing for former world number one Naomi Osaka, who needed just 49 minutes to blast past Anastasija Sevastova 6-1, 6-0.

The second-quickest win of Osaka’s career put her into her first quarter-final at the 1000 or Grand Slam level since Doha in 2024.

Swiatek, playing her first tournament since winning her sixth Grand Slam title at the All England Club last month, looked out of sorts from the start on a breezy centre court.

She fell behind a quick break and failed to convert a pair of break chances in the eighth game as Tauson took a 5-3 lead in the first set.

The Polish star appeared to be finding her rhythm as she won the next three games to get her nose in front 6-5.

But Tauson, who won her third WTA title and her first since 2021 in New Zealand in January, held to force the tiebreaker and dominated, Swiatek surrendering the set with a double fault on the Dane’s first set point.

Swiatek had saved a pair of break points in the eighth game of the second set when another untimely double fault gave Tauson the break and a 5-3 lead.

Tauson calmly served it out, claiming the victory when Swiatek belted a backhand into the net.

Tauson will be up against a battle-tested opponent in Keys, who saved two match points on her own serve in the 10th game of the third set, striping a forehand on the first and escaping the second as Czech Muchova misfired on a service return.Osaka will face Ukrainian veteran Svitolina, who beat Wimbledon runner-up Anisimova 6-4, 6-1.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2025