Grumpy, tension installed, Sheldon soared.
Ben Sheldon He found himself in a breakdown in the third set against Italy’s Flavio Cobolli on Sunday night in Toronto, but the American dug himself out of the hole and beat his opponent 6-4 4-6 4-6 7-6 (1).
In the process, Sheldon won his 100th career victory, and the 22-year-old faced Alex de Minaur in 1,000 quarterfinals in his fourth career Masters, seeking his first semifinal at this level.
With the victory, Sheldon became the eighth man born in the 21st century, with 100 victories, and it was the 9th active American to achieve this feat.
“I think I’m really tough tonight,” Sheldon later told the media. “I have to praise Flavio, who did a lot of things throughout the game, which made the situation difficult. I think he did a great job. He really was quick and neutralized a lot of things I did well, and it was always a tough game for me, so it was a great time to come through it.”
The battle intensified when Sheldon dropped from 5-3 to upgrade and forced the Brokeners with the 23-year-old.
It is not clear what Cobolli did, but when the match was over, Shelton summoned the Italians and took his gesture. Cobolli and Shelton had a long discussion, and Cobolli said it was not aimed at Shelton because he also said he was frustrated with himself just because he splurged on the lead.
“He just made a gesture in the finals. He said it wasn’t mine, so we were cool.”
The American was shocked again at the question in the post-match interview and said, “He said that wasn’t me. We were fine. We talked about this in the locker room, so I won’t answer any questions about this. There is no story, we’re fine, that’s it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N_TAFU5S30
Cobolli seemed to have the game on hand, serving 5-4, 15-0 in the final set, but his luck went south from there. Italy’s double shortcomings brought two breakthrough points to Sheldon, while the American converted to the second one, because Coboli missed the forehand width and increased the score to 5 points.
He led 6-5 in the next game, and despite squandering the match points in Game 12, Sheldon dominated the subsequent tiebreak to end the victory with a 2:24 run.
“I was able to get a second chance by taking the serve and getting to the point he had to offer,” he said. “It wasn’t always easy, especially on a night like this, where the winds weren’t as hot as the day, not as high as the day, and the same game as me in the first set. I broke for this set and then he went bankrupt and tried to try to stay in it.”
“It was a tense game, it was difficult and I think after finishing this game, you know, it was huge for me to be able to bring my energy levels back to where I wanted and to be able to get a confident holding on 5-All.”
