Taylor Fritz Breaks Racket in Frustration Over Shocking Defeat to Ben Shelton at Canadian Open

Blown off the court by Ben Shelton’s thunderous serves and baseline command, the Taylor Fritz  World No.4 had no answers in a 6-4, 6-3 defeat at the Canadian Open. So, as frustration peaked with a double fault, the World No.4 let it all out, shattering his racket against his leg while the 22-year-old opponent calmly sealed his spot in the final.

Perhaps Fritz’s unraveling began before the match even started. Just as he stepped onto Centre Court ready for the semifinal, he and Shelton were abruptly pulled off due to a malfunction in the electronic line-calling system (ELC). The 15-minute delay stalled his momentum and forced a cold restart, a nightmare scenario for a rhythm-dependent player. When the match finally began, Fritz looked flat from the first point. He sprayed unforced errors early, struggled with timing on returns, and never quite recovered from the early disruption.

Despite being the higher seed and more experienced name, Fritz couldn’t generate a single break point and landed just 58% of his first serves. He double-faulted at crucial moments, including the one that sealed his fate late in the second set. His backhand misfired repeatedly, and he failed to counter Shelton’s pace or patterns from the baseline. For a player who had beaten Shelton handily at Indian Wells last year and reached the Wimbledon semifinals just weeks ago, the 6-4, 6-3 defeat in a mere hour and 18 minutes wasn’t just a loss, it was a total unraveling. 

With this win, Shelton has leveled the H2H tally to 1-1 against Fritz and entered into his maiden ATP 1000 Masters final. And Fritz’s reaction to it all 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.

Top Comment by Margaret Fisher

I Think that Taylor was more frustrated at his self more than Shelton. I don’t see it personal at all....more

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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.