Let It Roll – Tennis Now

By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, August 8, 2026
Picture credit score: Antoine Couvercelle/ROLEX

The tennis ball will probably be a wrecking ball when Joao Fonseca faces Ben Shelton in a blockbuster Montreal rematch.

Fonseca fended off Casper Ruud 7-6(6), 6-3 to arrange a spherical of 16 showdown with defending-champion Shelton on Sunday. That match will probably be a rematch of the Munich quarterfinals final spring that noticed Shelton cease Fonseca, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Fonseca, who has knocked off Grand Slam finalists Stefanos Tsitsipas and Ruud in succession, expects a match of first-strike tennis towards Shelton.

The 19-year-old Brazilian says his method vs. Shelton, the lone Prime 10 participant nonetheless standing, is easy: Let it roll.

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“Powerful one, for certain. Ben is a big participant. He likes the floor,” Fonseca mentioned. “Right here the ball is
bouncing excessive. So his serve goes to be tougher than it usually is.

“However, yeah, I believe this 12 months I discovered a lot and had some extra expertise. And, yeah, I’m fairly assured within the match. I’m feeling good on court docket.

“So simply let it roll and let’s attempt to relaxation extra and be prepared for it Sunday.”

The left-handed Shelton struck seven aces and gained 38 of 45 first-serve factors in his Munich win over Fonseca. Within the ultimate set, Shelton didn’t face a break level and closed with conviction throwing down successive love holds.

Afterward, Shelton mentioned he loved dealing with the excitement the Brazilian brings to court docket.

“He’s an electrical participant—one of many fastest-rising stars we’ve seen on tour,” Shelton mentioned. “It’s been actually cool to observe his trajectory.

“For me, sharing the court docket with him is a privilege. He brings nice vitality, has followers all around the world, and I actually take pleasure in that type of environment.”

In his Nationwide Financial institution Open protection, Shelton has not surrendered a set and rides an eight-match Canadian Open profitable streak into the rematch with Fonseca.

“I’ve had a bizarre 12 months on the 1000s,” mentioned Shelton, who scored back-to-back wins at a Masters 1000 for the primary time this season. “It’s been troublesome for me, however these two tournaments over the summer season [Canada and CincinnatiI always play well at.

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“I think that, for me, you know, losing so early at the 1000s the way I did early in the year was more flukey. And I think that the way these tournaments are set up, especially the hard court events, there’s no reason that I shouldn’t be able to make some runs at these tournaments.

“It’s something that I struggled with a lot early in my career, adjusting to having the day off. But I do feel really comfortable at these tournaments now, and, yeah, glad to break that that I was going through this year.”

The winner of the Shelton vs. Fonseca match could face Jakub Mensik for a semifinal spot if the 13th-seeded Czech beats Botic van de Zandschulp. Mensik defeated Fonseca in the French Open quarterfinals in June.