Ben Shelton keeps winning at the NBO

The defending champion made it two in a row in Montreal on Friday afternoon, downing a player who possesses a similar on-court swagger to his, Zizou Bergs. 

Shelton was bound to be on high alert heading in, since all four seeds ahead of him have already departed. 

If there were any butterflies, he seemed to ease them by breaking the Belgian, who won his first title in Eastbourne in June, for 4-2 in the opening set. 

Shelton donated a pair of unforced errors on his first two break point chances in the game but converted the third one by wearing down Bergs in a rally. 

The opening break of the second set came out of nowhere, since both players held to love in all four previous games. 

A Bergs double fault bucked the trend and Shelton added another break when Bergs, trying to slam dunk an overhead, mishit it. Shelton was there to put his reply into the open court.The American hit eight aces overall and only lost seven points on serve. 

“It was a good day for me,” he said. “I thought I managed the match really well, especially with the way he came out serving. I had to make some adjustments to start.”

“Down the stretch I thought I played some great tennis and kept my foot on the gas.”

Merida breaking new ground 

Daniel Merida’s stock continues to rise. 

The 21-year-old Spaniard recovered from a second-set hiccup to beat Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-7 (4) 6-1 at Rogers Court, a day after his even younger countryman, Rafael Jodar, advanced to the fourth round. 

READ: Jodar, Fonseca, Tien and more: Meet the young stars at the NBO

He’ll find himself inside the Top 50, and potentially higher, when the NBO is done. 

Merida is very watchable — for his shotmaking and constant gesturing.

He outpowered Michelsen but the match shifted when the American saved three match points at 3-5 in the second. 

A reeling Merida dipped but he was able to reset for the final frame. 

Previously shining on clay, his wins in Montreal are the first of his young ATP career on hard courts.

Griekspoor backs up Zverev win

Michelsen’s coach, Kristof Vliegen, used to work with Tallon Griekspoor. While Merida bettered Michelsen, Griekspoor backed up his win over top seed Alexander Zverev by downing No. 30 seed Matteo Arnaldi 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to start play on Centre Court.

Things looked bleak for the big-serving Dutchman when he took a medical timeout for a back injury at the start of the second set. But Arnaldi, who rarely wins matches in straight sets this season, couldn’t keep up the momentum.

Griekspoor got some revenge, since Arnaldi topped him on the way to the Roland-Garros semifinals this spring. The agile Arnaldi proved to be a human highlight reel in Paris but Griekspoor outshone him in Montreal. 

Griekspoor and Merida go head-to-head in the fourth round. 

Photos: Tennis Canada