TORONTO – US fourth seed Ben Shelton gathered in the third set, beating Italy’s 13th seed Flavio Koboli on Sunday night at the National Bank Open.
Shelton overcame a 4-2 deficit in the final set to advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday in a hard court event that ends Thursday.
After the match, the TV cameras showed Shelton and Koboli had words in a hot exchange on the net.
Shelton faces Australia’s ninth seed Alex de Minaurus, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, and wins US seventh seed Francis Tierfour 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Shelton, 22, won two ATP Tours in Tokyo last year on Hard Court in 2023. The 23-year-old Cobolli won the Clay event this year with his only tour title in Hamburg and Bucharest.
Previously, Russia’s sixth seed Andrei Rublev led Spain 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 3-0 Alejandro Davidevich Fokina, 3-0, when Davidevich Fokina retired due to fatigue.
Lublev faces the winner of a late match between US second seed Taylor Fritz and Czech Gili Lehekka.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
