The Canadian Open continues this week as Ben Shelton faces Alexei Popyrin while Taylor Fritz goes up against Seb Korda in the round of 32. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 ATP Tour – Masters 1000
Canadian Open
IGA Stadium
Selected Ro32 matches – 8/9 August
8 August
Ben Shelton 48/100 | Alexei Popyrin 16/10
Ben Shelton got his Montreal campaign off to a fine start with a straight-sets win over double’s partner Alexander Bublik.
He was actually broken early on but managed to secure the break-back as Bublik was serving for the set. He never looked back, dominating the Kazakh with his brand of aggressive first-strike tennis.
Shelton served nine aces in the match, hitting a spectacular 30 winners to just 11 unforced errors. It was the perfect follow-up to his solid semifinal run at last week’s Citi Open.
A US Open semi-finalist last season, Shelton has enjoyed a decent – if unspectacular – campaign. He won his maiden clay-court title in Houston but bombed for the remainder of the clay-court swing. But his fourth round run at Wimbledon seemed to signal a shift in momentum and he validated his decision to skip the Paris Olympics with an impressive semifinal run in Washington.
These North American hardcourt events will likely become the bread and butter of his career and he will take some stopping this week.
I have always felt that 25-year-old Aussie Alexei Popyrin is a bit of an underachiever. On the surface, he appears to have everything. He has a really potent serve and powerful groundstrokes. He also moves brilliantly and has an extremely delicate touch at the net.
He just hasn’t been able to find the consistency in his game over the years. But he enjoyed a solid 2023 campaign, winning his 2nd career title in Umag to go with a maiden ATP 1000 quarterfinal run in Cincinnati (showing off some North American hardcourt prowess).
But this year has been a bit of a struggle. He reached the semifinals in Qatar and picked up the scalp of Andrey Rublev in Monte-Carlo. But there hasn’t been too much else to crow about.
That being said, he did push Novak Djokovic to four sets in both of their Grand Slam meetings this season. And he looked utterly brilliant in his opening victory against Tomas Machac, winning a simply staggering 96% of his first-serve points.
He hit 18 winners to just eight unforced errors in a performance that could galvanize his season.
The Verdict: Popyrin to win in three sets 42/10
Shelton won their only previous meeting, seeing off Popyrin in straight sets at last year’s Aussie Open. This has the makings of a really tight game. Both players looked excellent in their openers, serving brilliantly and hitting far more winners to unforced errors.
Popyrin has the power to trade blows with Shelton from the baseline and he has the touch to take the American into some uncomfortable areas. I think there’s a real chance that Popyrin could score an upset here.
9 August
Taylor Fritz 6/10 | Seb Korda 5/4
This has been a really consistent season for big-serving American Taylor Fritz. He defended his Delray Beach title and also went on to win his 3rd Eastbourne International.
He made some real headway on clay, reaching his first final in Munch to go with some solid finishes in Madrid and Rome.
Fritz has reached two Grand Slam quarterfinals this season and just won Olympic Bronze playing alongside Tommy Paul in Paris. He blew Mariano Navone off the court in his opening match, serving seven aces and winning 78% of his first-serve points in a dominant serving display.
He has a pretty dreadful record in this event, failing to go beyond the third round in each of his five attempts. Fritz will be looking for a big North American hardcourt title to elevate his season from good to great.
But next up he faces a considerable hurdle, with compatriot Seb Korda coming into this event after the best week of his career.
Seb Korda created a neat bit of history with his victory in last week’s Citi Open. His father won the same title 32 years ago, making them the first father-son duo to win the same ATP Tour event.
It was also Seb Korda’s first ATP 500 title and sets him up beautifully for this busy North American hardcourt swing. Korda has enjoyed a breakthrough year on multiple fronts, winning his maiden Masters 1000 doubles title in Madrid (playing alongside Jordan Thompson).
His singles really took off on the grass, where he finished runner-up at the Libema Open prior to a semifinal run in Queens. He extended his winning streak to six matches after Vasek Pospisil withdrew early into their round of 64 clash.
Korda is a really solid ball striker who loves to take the initiative and approach the net. It will be interesting to see how he matches up to the similarly direct Fritz.
The Verdict: Fritz to win in straight sets 29/20
Fritz leads the head-to-head 2-0, winning their most recent meeting at this year’s Rome Masters. Fritz has never dropped a set against Korda and I can see this trend continuing.
Korda will obviously feel confident following his Washington exploits but Fritz is a class operator who does everything Korda does (just a little better). He has more genuine pop in that forehand wing and his serve can be truly destructive.
