Taylor Fritz battled through a marathon to edge Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5) and reach the Toronto Masters quarter-finals after nearly three hours of late-night tennis.
The US second seed completed his set of Masters 1000 quarter-finals in a 39-game contest that featured no breaks of serve, sealing the win with two clutch aces in the final tiebreak.
Fellow American Ben Shelton joined him in the last eight, surviving Flavio Cobolli 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/1) for his 100th ATP win and a third straight quarter-final run.
Australian Alex de Minaur, who next faces Shelton, extended his winning streak to seven with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win over Frances Tiafoe, while sixth seed Andrey Rublev advanced when Alejandro Davidovich Fokina retired at 3-0 in the third set. Rublev will face Fritz for a semi-final berth.
In Montreal, Clara Tauson pulled off the latest shock of the women’s event, ousting second seed and Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.
The 22-year-old Dane avenged her Wimbledon defeat with composed shot-making in windy conditions, sealing the match when Swiatek’s backhand found the net.
Tauson will face Madison Keys next, after the American saved two match points to edge Karolina Muchova 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Keys, who beat Tauson in Auckland earlier this year en route to her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, is chasing her second Canadian Open semi-final.
