Montreal Match “Shark Bites”: Sizing up the Semfinals

Here’s a closer look at the matchups on Centre Court courtesy of renowned ATP stats and information guru, Greg Sharko.

Francisco Cerundolo (ARG) / Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG) vs Orlando Luz (BRA) / Rafael Matos (BRA) – The winner of this all-South American matchup will advance to their first career ATP Masters 1000 doubles final.  The Argentine duo upset top seeds Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten in straight sets on Tuesday, saving all 10 break points faced, to reach their first Masters 1000 semifinal. Cerundolo came to Montreal with a 4-20 career doubles record in Masters 1000 play while Etcheverry was 4-15 in Masters 1000 doubles action. Luz and Matos have a 3-2 career record together in ATP Tour finals. The winner of this match will become the first all-South American team to reach the NBO men’s doubles final in the Open Era.

[20] Rafael Jodar (ESP) vs [28] Brandon Nakashima (USA) – This is a first-time meeting between the two players who both competed for one season at the University of Virginia. Jodar, the 19-year-old Spanish sensation, lost the first set in his opening round match on Wednesday and has won the last eight sets going into the semifinals. He has been broken nine times in 41 service games but also  leads the tournament in return games won (20 of 43). He is appearing in his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal after quarterfinal results in Madrid and Rome this season. He is the first teenager at the NBO to reach the semifinals since Tsitsipas advanced to the final in his main draw debut 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. Has climbed to No. 11 in the ATP Live Rankings.  He captured first ATP Tour title at Marrakech in April in his first tour-level event on clay. This year he qualified for his tour-level debut at Australian Open and entered Roland Garros as No. 27 seed, advancing to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in tournament debut. Nakashima, who turned 25 years old on August 3, is appearing in his first career Masters 1000 semifinal. His best result this season is a runner-up in Brisbane in January.  He began working in mid-June at Queen’s Club with new coach Wayne Ferreira, who is a former World No. 6 and the 1996 NBO singles champion. Since joining forces, the American has compiled an 11-3 record, advancing to the semifinals in three of four tournaments and has climbed to a career-high No. 25 in the ATP Live Rankings and will move to No. 22 if he reaches the final.

2026 ATP Tour Wins Leaders     Spanish Semifinalists at NBO (since 2000)     

Jannik Sinner          44-3   Rafael Nadal 7 (2005, 2007-08, 2010, 2013, 2018-19) 

Alexander Zverev    44-11                 Feliciano Lopez 1 (2014)

Rafael Jodar            34-13                 Pablo Carreno Busta 1 (2022)

Tommy Paul            33-15                 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 1 (2023)

Frances Tiafoe          32-15                Rafael Jodar 1 (2026)

[12] Learner Tien (USA) vs [5] Ben Shelton (USA) – This will be the third meeting between the left-handers and Tien won both previous meetings, 6-4, 7-6(2) in the second round at Mallorca last year and 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3, in the third round at Masters 1000 Indian Wells in March en route to his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal. They are two of three Americans in the semifinals at the NBO for the first time since 1992 when Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl and MaliVai Washington were in the final four.  Shelton is the only player yet to lose a set (8-0) in this year’s NBO and the reigning champion enters on a 10-match Canadian winning streak. He has held serve 36 of 39 games (92%), which is best among the semifinalists the NBO. Has a 28-7 record on North American soil since July last year, highlighted by winning the biggest title of his career in Toronto. Has a 31-12 record this season (17-5 on hard). He has won a personal-best three titles this season on as many surfaces – Dallas (hard), Munich (clay) and Stuttgart (grass). And his three titles are second-most on the ATP Tour this season behind Sinner (6). The 20-year-old Tien has only lost one set (8-1) en route to his first career Masters 1000 semifinal. The left-hander is the youngest American men’s semifinalist in Canada since Andy Roddick in 2002. Has been broken nine times so far (in 39 service games 77%) but is second in return games won (18 of 39). Came into Montreal ranked No. 19 but has improved to No. 12 in the ATP Live Rankings. Has a 7-7 career record vs. Top 10 opponents with wins over No. 8 Shelton in Indian Wells and over No. 10 Bublik in Geneva SF this year. Coached by Hall-of-Famer and 1990 NBO champion Michael Chang.

Left-Handed NBO Men’s Semifinalists in This Century

Rafael Nadal                               7 (2005, 2007-08, 2010, 2013, 2018-19)         

Ben Shelton                                2 (2025-26)

Greg Rusedski                            1 (2005)

Feliciano Lopez                          1 (2014)

Denis Shapovalov                      1 (2017)

Learner Tien                               1 (2026)

Photo: Pascal Ratthé / Tennis Canada