Montreal Match “Shark Bites”: Previewing Tuesday's Quarterfinal Matches

Here’s a closer look at the featured matches on the schedule courtesy of renowned ATP stats and information guru, Greg Sharko.

[19] Luciano Darderi (ITA) vs [28] Brandon Nakashima (USA) – This is the third meeting between the two (tied 1-1) and the Italian won the first meeting 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-2 in the second round of Hamburg last year. The American won their last meeting 6-2, 7-5 in the first round of Vienna last October. They are the oldest players remaining in the quarterfinals at 24 and 25 years old, respectively. 

Darderi lost the opening set in his last two matches before rallying to win in three sets. He’s the last remaining Italian in the tournament and he’s appearing in his second straight Masters 1000 quarterfinal after advancing to the semifinals on home soil in Rome in May. His best result this season is winning his fifth career ATP Tour title in Santiago in February. 

Nakashima, who turned 25 years old on Monday, is appearing in his first career Masters 1000 quarterfinal. He is one of three Americans in the quarterfinals (Shelton, Tien) for the second year in a row. His best result this season is a runner-up finish in Brisbane in January. He began working in June at the Queen’s Club with new coach Wayne Ferreira, who is a former World No. 6 and the 1996 NBO singles champion.

[20] Rafael Jodar (ESP) vs  [18] Arthur Fils (FRA) – This is a third-time meeting between the two Top 20-ranked players. In their last meeting the Spaniard won 7-6(5), 6-3 on July 28 in the first round of Washington and he went on to reach the final. In their first meeting in April, Fils won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals of Barcelona and he went on to capture the title. 

READ: Shelton happy with ‘grit’ in straight-sets win over Fonseca at NBO

The 19-year-old Spaniard lost the first set in his opening round match on Wednesday and has won the last six sets going into the quarterfinals. He is appearing in a third consecutive ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal (Madrid & Rome) and is the first teenager at the NBO to reach the quarterfinals since Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2018. He began this season ranked No. 168, breaking into Top 100 in March, Top 50 in April and Top 20 on August 3 at career-high No. 15 after advancing to biggest final of his career in Washington last Monday. He captured first ATP Tour title at Marrakech in April in his first tour-level event on clay. This year he qualified for tour-level debut at the Australian Open and entered Roland Garros as the No. 27 seed, advancing to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. 

French No. 1 Fils, the highest seed left in the bottom half of the draw, is appearing in his fourth Masters 1000 quarterfinal of the season (Indian Wells QF, Miami SF, Madrid SF). He is only the third player to reach four or more Masters 1000 quarterfinals this year, along with Sinner (5) and Zverev (4).  He saved two second set points in the tie-break against Cameron Norrie in his Saturday night win and converted his fifth match point.  In April, he captured the Barcelona title  and also finished as the runner-up in Doha in February.

Teenage Quarterfinalists at the NBO (since 2000) – Jodar is one of seven teenagers to reach the quarterfinals or better at the NBO in this century:

Andy Roddick  2001-02 (18/19)          
Rafael Nadal   2005 (19)
Andy Murray  2006 (19)
Marin Cilic       2008 (19)
Denis Shapovalov     2017 (18)
Stefanos Tsitsipas   2018 (19) 
Rafael Jodar           2026 (19)

[13] Jakub Mensik (CZE) vs [5] Ben Shelton (USA) – This is the fourth meeting between the two former ATP Masters 1000 champions from last year (Mensik leads 2-1). The 20-year-old Czechia native captured the Miami Open title and Shelton won the crown in Toronto. The American won the first meeting 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round at Masters 1000 Indian Wells in 2024 and last year Mensik won 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-5 in the second round in Auckland and 6-1, 6-4 in the third round at Masters 1000 Madrid. Mensik has only lost one set (6-1) so far and that came in his opening win. He has hit 25 aces, second-most among the quarterfinalists. He is the first Czechia man to advance to the NBO quarterfinals since Tomas Berdych in 2016. Mensik is appearing in his fourth career Masters 1000 quarterfinal, first this season, He has a 2-3 record vs. Top 10 opponents this season (10-11 in career). His best result came in second week of the season in Auckland where he captured his second career ATP Tour title.  Has a 28-13 record this season. 

Shelton is the only player yet to lose a set (6-0) in this year’s NBO. The reigning champion enters on a nine-match Canadian winning streak. He leads the quarterfinal line-up in first serve pct. (69%) and second serve points won (67%) and second in service games won (28 of 31). One of three Americans in the quarterfinals for the second straight year at the NBO.  Has a 27-7 record on North American soil since July last year, highlighted by winning the biggest title of his career in Toronto. Has a 30-12 record this season.

Daniel Merida (ESP) vs [12] Learner Tien (USA) – This is the first meeting between the two. The 21-year-old Merida is the only unseeded quarterfinalist and he came into Montreal with an 0-1 tour-level record on hard courts. He and countryman Rafael Jodar are the first Spanish duo to reach the NBO quarterfinals since 2023.  Merida ousted No. 28 Humbert in 2R for biggest win of his career and is now looking for his first Top 20 victory against Tien. He is appearing in his to third ATP Tour quarterfinal after runs to Bucharest final and Umag title , both on clay. Has a 16-7 tour-level record on the season. Has saved 19 of 27 break points (70%) at the NBO, second-best among the quarterfinalists. He came into Montreal ranked No. 63 and he is up to No. 40 in the ATP Live Rankings. 

The 20-year-old Tien has only lost one set (6-1) en route to his second career Masters 1000 quarterfinal. The left-hander is appearing in his 12th career tour-level quarter-final and he is the youngest American men’s quarter-finalist in Canada since Andy Roddick (19) in 2002. He's been broken eight times so far, which is the most among the quarterfinalists. But is No. 2 in return games won at 45% (14 of 31 games won). Coached by Hall-of-Famer and 1990 NBO champion Michael Chang, who is not in Montreal.

Photo: Tim Austen/Tennis Canada